Ice was a smart guy. Everyone always said so, but it was usually followed by, "if only he would apply himself." He hated it. It wasn't his fault everything seemed boring. He had his degree in robotics. He worked in a fancy lab. What more could people want?

Ice, on the other hand, just wanted to play his games.He never played to the point where it was detrimental to his health, but damn did he play a lot. However, he often told his coworkers and friends he felt more alive in-game than he did in real life.

As for friends. He had a few. None were really close to him. He didn't have a girlfriend or boyfriend. Not because he was ugly. He was actually kind of cute in a skinny nerd kind of way. He had short brown hair and bright gold-green eyes. He was clean shaven and while his clothes were simple, they were nice and fit him well.

He recently received an email from Imperial Entertainment inviting him to join the next big mmo as an alpha tester. It was the first big closed pod immersion VR mmo and they even said they would supply the pod! Of course he signed up immediately. Ice knew how expensive those pods were. He couldn't afford one even if he saved every penny from his job at the robotics lab for a year. Then he waited months for the testing to start.

Finally, the day before launch the technicians came and set up the pod in his living room. It was enormous. They connected it to its own power source and warned him not to mess with it. The Haptic fluid felt super weird; almost like a thin gelatin, supposedly nontoxic according to the manual.--Which he had only reread about four times in excitement. Ice couldn't contain himself and watched the game trailer about ten times on his phone; Other Worlds Online. Even the name conjured up the images of space, exciting adventures, and alien worlds of all kinds. When he went to bed that night, he set his alarm way earlier than normal.

When he got up he ate a hasty breakfast of granola bar washed down with a half empty can of Mercenary Cola. After finishing this minimal morning routine, Ice set the pod to a comfortable temperature before he climbed in. He put the carbon fiber helmet on and the breathing mask before sealing the hatch and turning the helmet on. In doing so the inside of the helmet turned completely black before he saw the words; the words that would change everything:

Error: Loose connection in pod attempting redirect.

Suddenly, his body was wracked with pain, his nerves burning ice cold then scorching hot. His muscles clenched up so tight he could feel them beginning to tear. The only thing he could do was close his eyes.

Then… nothing.

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He slowly opened his eyes. His body felt weird. Ice reached up to touch his head when he heard a voice.

"Welcome to Regulation, User. The ship has been damaged. There are few habitable planets within range. And only one listed with a repair facility."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He gasped. He thought he was in the immersion pod in his living room? Remembering what the manual said, Ice went to pull the helmet off but only felt his hair where the helmet should be. Looking around, he saw a small blinking light in his peripheral vision. As he concentrated on it, his world seemed to expand. He could see what looked like a spaceship, small and sleek. He tried to move his hand but the ship rotated in his vision.

It looked ..... beat up. Like it just limped out of a battle. He opened his mouth and cursed under his breath," What in the hell is going on here?" He said out loud as his heart slowed.

"We have escaped the bandits. We are in need of repairs."

He twisted around trying to find the source of the voice instead the orientation of the ship changed; turning along with his head movement.

"Activating gyro stabilizer." The voice stated. Ice felt the ship still.

"Who are you?!"He shouted, not expecting an answer.

"I am the Imperial Combat System. I await your command."He started to notice that the voice sounded monotone.

He took a deep breath. First things first. "You said we were damaged?"

The monotonous voice answered, "The ship's life support will fail in one day. Thruster 3 is offline and all weapons systems are destroyed."

"Where can we make repairs? How far is it?" He asked, starting to panic.

“Twenty-seven hours." The System stated.

That was going to get old fast.As Ice heard the system proclaim the time of his death, his anxiety spiked before he forced himself to calm down. "Is there any way I can fix the life support?" He asked.

Suddenly a screen appeared in front of him:

Survival Task: Repair life support.

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Time limit: 26 hours 15 minutes

Reward for completion: Survival

Penalty for refusal or failure to accept: True Death

Underneath the window were two options: Accept and Refuse.

Of course Ice hit “accept.”. It was not much of a choice.

"You have three options to repair the life support system. They are as follows:Reach an inhabited planet with a repair facility. Difficulty: Impossible Use Ship radio to get help from a nearby ship. Difficulty: Uncertain. Buy a repair kit on the System store. Difficulty: moderate."

The System stated,monotoned as ever.

Ice listened to the System closely before asking about the radio.... only to be told there were no ships within range of the communication device on his ship.

"And what about the store?" He asked as he became exasperated with his situation.

The System informed him."Store unavailable during initialization process." .