Metavorced

Chapter 2 - Fools Rush In

Too tired to even move, a blank-eyed, grimy-headed Ria gets up from her couch. Removing the godforsaken VR headset and equipment, walks into the bathroom and turns on the spent yellow lightbulb. Not have it fixed since years ago. It scintillated harshly on the slimy and disintegrating floor boards. And on to the tatty old walls.

As she took her steps, like an elephant to the toilet, the room quaked from being worn-out so much, could've collapsed. She sat on the almost broken toilet. Seeing how the seat was more crooked than the cracks on a concrete sidewalk from years ago. Luckily, was able to use it without falling over. Her life was at a point where there was no going back. It was like a one-way ticket to a train which took you to hell. But worse, paired with mortal doom.

The addiction got worse, her peers and family don't even talk to her any longer. Her habit had become more life-consuming and she was falling apart. Meta has almost completely destroyed her, and even if she tried to be saved. She would not be able to, the limit to this has already gone so far off, 2 years. She can't take back the years of brain frying.

But this was not the end.

This is far from the end.

Late December, 15th of 2039. There was the day I had met the one and only. After the call from my mum, the discount, and the worries. I had it in front of me, Niklaus. Niklaus Mikaelson from TVD. Real, and no fakes. No edits, no photos, no movies, no props, no effects. He was real.

Well, he was a cardboard cut-out. But he was real. He had his face. His body. He had the heart of a human, in cardboard. His touch contained warmth. Just like a human. He felt. Just like a human. And most importantly, he loved me. Just like a human would.

Only because I could edit the settings of him, though, like some kind of cyber-doll—but out of cardboard. If I wanted him to say to me that he loved me, I could. If I wanted him to spoon-feed me chocolate cake, I could. And with that alone, my life was complete.

In meta, undoubtedly.

In reality, my mum was deathly ill, location I don't even know anymore, my apartment was crumbling like a cracker dipped in milk for too long. And I have type 2 diabetes and probably other illnesses I haven't checked for, since the last time I went outside to get checked was when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at the clinic. My last rehab was a few months ago, my 20th. My friend, Carrie, had forced me to. Giving in her all for my unsuccessful "recovery". After I turned it down by running away, the last time I saw the enthusiasm in her face was when she admitted me in. I haven't talked to her. Checked her socials for the last post to be about a macaroni and cheese, which was 2 days prior to my escape. Her profile picture was pitch black. She didn't change her background though. It was still a selfie of us when we were younger. When things were, well, dare I say, better.

And if I couldn't cope worse, I fell back into rock bottom, if I could even say that, since I think I'm already at that point. And for a very long time, I think.

I sunk back into my couch, put on the devil's hat once again, and continued my stupid endeavors. I continued my paused game, which was going on a date with my cardboard cut-out Niklaus.

He had both his beautiful signature cardboard hand resting at his sides, a wicked but cute smile upon his lips. An icy stare, eyebrows show no emotions. His face hides mischief. His cute stubby chin, covered in beard hair. Sweetly looking at me. He always does, he's a cardboard cut out. He will always be in the same pose. Which was admiring me. He will always be mine. Always...

"So Niklaus, do you like to watch people die?" I asked him.

"You are so silly, Ria, of course I do!" The text box appeared under his chest. I merely giggled, put my hand on his, and planted a kiss on his cardboard face.

"You are so special to me, I don't even know how I would live without you," I confessed.

"You are special to me, too," He replied. Butterflies emerged in my stomach, if there weren't already enough in my chest, fluttering excitedly. I wish butterflies still existed.

I called the waitress, paid our check, and I grabbed him by the waist. Since his hands were flat and stuck to his side. We left the cafe.

Very french-like style. If only France still looked like that. It was just a hologram of a place. And in Meta, which meant it was only an illusion. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my head and pointed at a make-believe water fountain.

"That water fountain is so cute! Let's go there Klausie-poo!" I eagerly ran in a haste to it, carrying my cardboard cut-out Klaus. Hurriedly, I pulled out a hologram coin and flipped it, and before tossing it into the water, I asked Klaus.

"Klaus, wanna bet on us forever?"

"Okay"

"Alright," I took a deep breath, "Me and Klaus, forever, till' the end!"

And I tossed it.

I watched it sink into the shallow crystal-clear water. And as if the game knew. A small badge flew up into my face, the coin again, but a clear blue, just like the water.

That will definitely happen! The badge said, I screamed hysterically. Probably attracted other Meta users around, but I couldn't care, if me and Klaus were to be together, forever, everything was fine.

Taking off the headset, I took my time, observing my disgusting and decaying living room. It was 2:30 am in the morning, December 29th 2039. I lay there, slowly mixing in with my brown and tattered couch. Patches of cotton bursted out. Dust of cheetos and chips adorn the hinges of the couch cushions and on the cushions themselves. The place where I usually sat, for years, was stained with something similar to skid marks. From the decades of fucking wasting my life around in the metaverse.

I grew mad the more seconds I looked around, seeing my withering room. I left for the kitchen, which is a place I haven't visited in about 10 years, since I only eat ordered food now.

I flipped the switch and the light bulb flickered violently onto the worn out walls and floors. My cupboards and counters were all coated in a thick layer of dust. I slid a finger to collect some, and boy oh boy did I sure did collect some. My single finger, unrecognizable with the hefty amount of grey dust. Tears welled up in my eyes from the horrendous sight. I ran away, crying, back to the same old place. The same old cage, my same old jail cell of misery.

The living room. And if I had to describe it just like the other rooms in my apartment, it would definitely be vastly different. My kind words are reserved for this room and Meta only.

It was like a comfort place for me. But it still hurt me so much. It physically relieved my tired body. But mentally, it rang pangs in my heart. So many, many pangs. Regret, Sadness, Nostalgia, Worries, Anger, Frustration. So much I can't explain.

So what did I do?

I put on the same old headset, the same old gimmick, the same old device that held me hostage. The same old gimmick that had destroyed me, inside and out, and in so many ways. In the same old ways, Wake up and Meta.

And there he was, Klaus, in his bestest.

He looked like an angel, in a time of crisis. The light at the end of a dark tunnel. The saviour in a cataclysm.

He was the love of my life I could not let go. Just as I said. And as long as he and I were guaranteed to be together, forever. Everything was fine.