April’s weakened state made even the simplest of tasks difficult. She enjoyed entering the virtual world of the Colossal Machine from her bedroom. With the help of her nurse, April put on her virtual reality goggles. She took pleasure in online VR activities, since her body was failing—but she tried not to think about it. Grandfather checked in on her almost every day, but he had a job to complete and wasn’t always available. Her mother was never present, and when she was, she seemed to scrutinize everything about April. It felt like her mother was examining her like a scientist would examine a rat in a cage.
At least I have my avatar in the Colossal Machine, April thought.
April logged into the game and entered the realm of the Colossal Machine. She was sitting in a chair in her anteroom. Each player had the power to decorate the interior of the microcosm to match whatever they wanted. April had fashioned her microcosm after her grandfather’s study, which she knew well.
She looked around her microcosm, scanning the room for changes. Although microcosms were supposed to be private areas, she was curious about how it all worked, so she researched the Colossal Machine whenever she could. April listened to podcasts and watched online videos during her many dialysis sessions. She was always learning.
She remembered that, in one podcast, someone had been talking about microcosm invasions. The developers had tried protecting players against such things, although it was not only an invasion into someone’s virtual space—it was a private area. Something was off inside April’s microcosm. Everything in the room seemed to be in its rightful place, but yet something felt wrong.
April examined everything in the room at least a few times. I must just be tired, April thought. She decided to leave the anteroom this time. She got up from the virtual chair and reached the door when she spotted something strange; it was subtle, but noticeable.
Is that a tear in the side of the microcosm? April noticed the edge of a picture frame containing a photo of her grandfather and her at the zoo. It was near the wall so she almost missed it from her seated position. The tear was glowing brighter on the right side than any other; if April moved, the effect would disappear. It was only visible when she was near the door. Maybe a spell would work to repair the microcosm? She opened her spell book. There were several blank pages for spells she hadn’t learned yet, but she had mastered all the lower-level spells.
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Because the edge of the picture frame is bright, I wonder what would happen if I use a darkening spell on the frame, April wondered.
“Un-Dak-Por-Bet,” April said as she raised her arms to command the magic of the elements. Since this was a lower-level spell, it wouldn’t call attention to the Dark Denizens, and it didn’t need any reagents. She channeled the power of the darkness into the frame. The spell should have obfuscated the object she was casting on; instead, the room darkened. She had used darken spells a lot when she was new to the game . . . and this was a new development. The picture frame got brighter. Green light shone out of the tear and seemed to widen. April tried to use a “close fissure” spell. She said, “Un-Cras-Por-Cad.” However, instead of closing, the fissures ripped apart not only the picture frame, but the part of the wall, as well.
April noticed something moving in the ripped-open part. When she moved closer to get a better look, she screamed in horror. It was an eyeball—not one, but several, all clustered together and peering in. She backed away from the picture frame. The eyeballs separated. She could see a pair of hands peeling back the fissure, opening it, and then she could see a soft red glow in the darkness between the eyeballs. She tried to leave the anteroom of the microcosm, but the door wouldn’t open.
April tried pulling—hard. The doorknob came off in her hands. She could see a hole where the knob had been. She tried reattaching the knob, but black sludge poured out from the hole and started forming into something on the floor. A few minutes later, she could see eyes in the black goo, and then a mouth with fangs!
Something is definitely wrong! The black goo stretched out, trying to reach her. She recoiled. She heard a sucking sound as she backed away. The black goo raced after her with lightning speed and grabbed at one of her hands, holding it tight. Her health meter was suddenly reduced by over 90 percent. She screamed as more black goo reached out for her remaining free hand. The goo seemed to blink, and then it began to speak.
“We are coming for you, my dear!”
April was screaming as the nurse disconnected the virtual reality interface. She was shaking.
“I think she is suffering some attack, get the doctor,” the nurse told her assistant.
Less than a minute later, a young doctor sedated her. Once she was stable, the doctor called Jeremiah.