V.A.T. (Working Title)

Chapter 1

YOU WIN!

Sam looked at the letter on his desk, rubbing his chin, scratching the stubble growing there. Was this a scam, he asked himself. He didn't remember signing up for a contest of any kind and the postage on his desk confused him. It was rather high-quality paper and there was something heavy within, so it didn't seem to him to be a scam. Then again, he didn't remember signing up for a contest.

YOU WIN!

The writing on the letter was big and gaudily colored. It was reflective and the pattern on the words changed as his view of them shifted. High-quality, he reasoned. Could be a ruse, though. There really was only one way to find out if it was real or not, but he really didn't have time to sit around and read a letter he wasn't sure was real.

He finished pulling on his shoes, lacing them tightly, and left his room. It was time for his daily meet-up at the library. He bid goodbye to his mother as his sister grabbed her backpack. Before he could leave, though, his mother fussed over him, making sure his hair was combed, commenting on how he really needed to shave, pointing out a wrinkle in his shirt and how he really should go change.

"Mom, leave him alone, it's just one wrinkle." Gabriella rolled her eyes as she walked up to Sam and their mother. "Look, see," she smoothed it out with her hand, "all better. Also, I like him a little scruffy."

"Gabriella, dear-"

"I like it too, Mom." Sam supported. He didn't have an opinion on his facial hair, but he did want to leave sometime soon. He had an appointment to make, after all. Their mother let them go, but wasn't about to let the opportunity to lecture them on proper cleanliness pass, so she followed them out the door and to the sidewalk, thankfully leaving them there with a huff and a shake of her head.

Sam and Gabriella set out to the local library, only a 10 minute trip from their house. When they arrived, Gabriella gave her brother a quick peck on the forehead, wishing him fun, and went up a level to the reference section to get some studying done. She always did this when she took her brother to his meetings. He counted on it.

As soon as Gabriella was out of sight, Sam made his way to the interfaces and logged on. Settling in for a long day, he stretched his shoulders and put on the Active Helm, a device that had long replaced standard monitors. He grabbed the remotes, used to control what he was doing, and went online.

The first thing he did was talk to his best friend Lola. Technically he wasn't supposed to access chat clients or even games on the library's public interfaces (which were meant for research only), but he taught himself how to bypass the security the library had and mask the application as one meant to connect a tutor and a student. Lola asked him how he'd been, mentioning how she hadn't heard from him in nearly a week and he responded about how his last meeting had been canceled due to the library closing.

"It's nice of you to spend your time helping out, Sam." Lola's text appeared in front of him as he started a game. "I don't know if I'd ever have the patience for personal tutoring, let alone group."

Sam hesitated. He hated lying.

"Yeah, it's taxing sometimes, but you do what you have to, to give back." He replied. Technically, he reasoned, he wasn't completely lying, since he did online tutoring sometimes when he was bored. Of course, that was far from volunteering, seeing as he was paid for his time.

Sam missed a shot and his character was killed. He stared blankly at the red-tinted screen in front of him, letting him know his game was over while a bulbous alien crouched and stood up repeatedly over his head. He respawned in the game and paid extra special attention to a certain alien, managing to kill him over ten times before the last two minutes ran out in the round.