The Immersive

Chapter II

Matt's POV

The game had only been out for mere weeks and had become a great success. It had been pegged as one of the best games of our generation, if not all time.

We weren't expecting threats yet, at least not ones personal to the each of us. This was the origin of the contest.

~•-•~

I looked at my phone and was overwhelmed with another thousand notifications popping up. As I scrolled through them, one stood out, an email with no sender or subject identified; I opened it.

It read, " Dear Mr. Matthew, It has reached my attention that you and your friends have developed quite a fortune from the Immersive (if that's what you call it now.) I request a small part of this. You don't necessarily need to follow through, but I have a feeling that the world might obtain some information about who you truly are if you don't. I look forward to your response, simply look for another message like this and you will find a way to reach me. I hope you and I will someday reach an understanding because of this."

My breath became ragged and only in short bursts; I couldn't find a way to get around his requirements. I despondently looked to Adrian, my eyes wide as an owl's, only to find him biting his nails, a habit he had recently picked up, and it meant nothing good.

A reassuring hand placed itself on my shoulder and squeezed gently. I knew who this was, I turned my head and saw Julianne. Her face was plastered with a rare melancholy frown,  but it was more worried than anything else. Her usual sparkling light blue eyes were replaced with a deep abyss of uncertainty and the crinkles around her eyes disappeared.

We all said nothing for what seemed like hours, stuck in our own thoughts, comforted only by each other. After awhile my ragged breaths became even and full and I finally felt the need to talk as Julianne's solemn face remained. "Who did they threaten?"

Adrian only shook his head and I didn't push him for a response. Julianne however responded, "My siblings". I knew Julianne's family was on the short list of what was important to her and it was a low blow to attack them.

As we went back to sitting in silence I noticed Naomi sitting curled up into the fetal position on the other side of the room

"Excuse me," I said as I got up to talk to her.

When I made my way over her, I placed my hand on her back, much like how Julianne had done for me and when she didn't react to the force I was applying, I made her sit up. Her face was covered in tears causing a shimmering look across her pale skin. I spoke softly trying to coax her to acknowledge my existence, but to no avail.

"C'mon," I said as I forced Naomi up and dragged her to her room down her branch of our headquarters.

When we designed this place we never intended for it to be a place to live, but as a place to chill out with each other and to refuel from our own lives. However each of us ended up putting bedrooms in our areas. Afterwards, we all found this hilarious. Each of us had five rooms that branched out from the corners of the main room, each customized to suit our own needs.

I lead Naomi down her hallway passing her two game rooms, her room simply dedicated to the Immersive, and her kitchen along the way. Her rooms were brightly coloured; I was nearly sick of all of the pinks, lavenders, and yellows by the time we reached her room. Naomi took some initiative and opened the door; ignoring me she plopped down on her bed. Soon after both Julianne and Adrian popped their heads around the doorway and walked in. They pulled two rose chairs from both corners of the room while I stood with my arms crossed behind them.

"Naomi, what's wrong?" I said taking the lead on this nearly parental interrogation.

"Nothing," she nearly whispered as her knees moved ever closer to her chest.

As she spoke her back arched to the point where someone might confuse her for the hunchback of Notre Dame.

Julianne attempted a different route to get her talking. "Hey Naomi, I understand that this has been a rough day for you and we understand if you don't want to talk, but we care about you and want to know what's wrong."

The way Julianne approached it was smart, it wasn't presented as aggressive. Naomi still lashed out though, "Maybe you'd fix this instead of bugging me Julianne."

Adrian and I were both taken aback by her response, while Julianne's face turned red; it was completely unlike her to say or do something mean.

"Stop! That was uncalled for." Adrian and I said simultaneously.

"So? Why don't you guys just leave me alone?" Naomi questioned.

"Because we care," Adrian chimed in.

"Well I don't," she replied.

At that point we gave up, there was no use in arguing with her. Typically Naomi was playful and laughed a lot, this was not her.

As the three of us stepped out of her room Julianne announced that she was going to bed, and upon that comment Adrian replied, " I don't know how you could sleep tonight, but sleep well anyways."

At that point I knew that he would be up all night tonight, trying to sleep, but his anxious thoughts would steal his tranquility.

"Hey, do you maybe want to get on the Immersive for awhile? We could probably stay away from all of the crowded quests for right now." I asked, hoping he'd accept my offer.

"Sure," he replied looking all the more grateful for the distraction.

"Alright! Let me go grab my mobile gear real quick, it's in my office." I nearly shouted, already sprinting off to go grab it.

As I sprinted down to my corridor, I saw the lights were already off in both Naomi and Julianne's passageways, they must already be trying to sleep. Now that I was turning down my hallway, I saw the contrast from my hallway to Naomi's; my colours were more rich and full, instead being diluted to make them seem more light. Each room was decorated with a different colour and was thoroughly separated, in one room I had a blood red, and in the next a midnight blue. The trend would continue into a royal purple and even some black.

I then slowed down to avoid slipping, as I turned into my study and grabbed my gear off my disheveled desk. Then, I turned straight around and ran back to Adrian. He had already set up his gear and was sitting in a small rig in the process of logging in. Quietly, I started the process of setting up my gear, putting on my goggles and slipping on the gloves that connected to the sleeves of my shirt, letting Adrian properly log into his account.

The way the Immersive was set up you could buy extra equipment to make your experience seem, well more "Immersive". Adrian and I actually worked together on the rigs designing them for the best possible use, but after awhile we relinquished the control of the materials over to a larger company so that they could be mass produced. He and I still had the original models actually, it's what he was sitting in right now. Julianne and Naomi however opted out and bought the newer and better versions. Adrian and I felt a certain sentimentality towards the rigs.

Now to explain how the rigs work, the rigs actually allow you to feel what your character inside the game is feeling, without any bodily harm actually occurring to you. For example, a punch to your face would simply feel like an aggressive flick on your cheek. My gloves on the other hand were just a rather dumbed down version of the rigs. Instead of being able to feel it all over I would only be able to feel what was applied to my hands, such as picking up an object. The gloves looked similar to what a NASCAR driver might wear except that there were two little suckers to be placed below my wrist on both the under and over side of my arm. These suckers measured the force I was applying in the gloves and transfered that into the the object I was picking up in the game. They weren't as accurate as the rigs were, but they work well for mobile use.

As I logged into my account and inputted my pass phrase, "put one foot in front of the other," (it's always stuck in my head, don't make fun if me) I saw what I feared most, another e-mail with no subject or sender identified. Another e-mail from our favourite blackmailer, no doubt to tell us how to reach him.