Geekers

Chapter 1: Character Creation

For me, it all started with a strange e-mail.

Some tech company I'd never heard of before had sent me an offer. They claimed to have developed a new virtual reality gaming system, and wanted to hire me as one of their play-testers. If I accepted, I'd get a free prototype, along with a complimentary game developed exclusively for it. All I had to do was check a box at the bottom to indicate my interest, type out my name, and hit "reply".

Common sense told me there had to be a catch. Maybe this was a scam? I looked through the e-mail again. Nowhere did they ask for money, a social security number, or any passwords. The message and logo looked formal enough to came from an actual company, and scammers wouldn't have gone to this much trouble just to get my name. Was that enough to make this offer legitimate, though? 

There was a link to a website with more information. The website looked to be well-made, describing the features of their flagship console, and several games being developed by a partner company. It didn't take me long to reach a decision: the risk seemed minimal, and the potential pay-off could be big. Returning to the e-mail, I checked the box, signed, and hit "reply". That was it. 

Not wanting to keep my hopes up, I closed my e-mail and browser. I then did my best to put the matter out of my mind.

* * *

My normal life ended several weeks later, with a knock on the front door.

It was a Friday morning in May of 2019. I was a couple days into my summer vacation, and enjoying the respite from my work as a para-educator. My parents were both still at work, so I had the house to myself. 

At that particular moment, I was playing on my laptop in the bedroom, at the opposite end of the house. The sharp knock put me in a momentary panic. We weren't expecting any visitors, and part of me wanted to pretend no one was home. 

The knock repeated, and I decided it was probably best to answer. I hurriedly grabbed a pair of cargo shorts from my dresser and pulled them on over my skirt. Better safe than outed to a stranger. As I strode through the house, I heard a vehicle door slam shut, and a vehicle drive off. When I finally reached the door, there was no one there . . . but there was a large box sitting on the front porch.

I slipped on my sandals and stepped outside to investigate. The package was a head taller than me, and a foot or so wider. Down one side was a company logo: PandoraTech. That was the company which had sent me the offer a few weeks back . . . and suddenly, I had a good guess what was inside.  There were no labels or pictures to confirm my suspicions, though. Could it really be a VR gaming rig? The box certainly seemed large enough.

Before I could check out the goods, though, I had to get this whole thing inside. Clamping my hands on both sides and lifting experimentally, I was surprised to find I could hold it without too much effort. Whatever was inside, it was more bulky than heavy. My main difficulty was going to be getting it through the front door . . . and several more doorways to my bedroom. Instead, I decided to carry the box around to the back door. Only two doors to worry about now. Shifting my grip, tilting the box just so, I managed to fit it through the back door. Setting it down inside, I closed the door behind me. With a little effort – and a little patience – I maneuvered the package through the second door into my bedroom. 

That was better. I set about pulling the cardboard apart, then pulling off large sheets of bubble-wrap, and tossing the whole mess of packaging to one side. It was . . . something: a tall, cylindrical capsule on a thick, disc-shaped base. The cylinder itself had a clear, curved sliding door, just wide enough for me to fit through. Inside was an upright pad with a human-shaped impression, a headset, haptic gloves, and foot indentations. The whole thing looked really high-tech in contrast to the rest of my room.