DN-011-The Other

I took off my VR goggles only to see the amount, the depth, and the variations of games that encompassed this arcade. For something so run down it was unbelievable… The variety. I guess that’s why so many people were drawn to it. It had something for everyone. 

Before we knew it, Kurt was gone but we were busy and consumed by everything in front of us. Like a kid in a candy store. The options were endless. How did we never hear about this before?

Time passed by but we were in a trance. Consuming experiences of different worlds, different adventures of unimaginable capacity. Right at our fingertips.

“What’s going on over there?” Alex asked me. “Is that his friend or something?”

“I guess? Who knows.” I responded.  

“Dude. She’s hot. Get it, Kurt.” Chad chimed in. 

She was far away but we were all just a little curious. So eyes were peeking over while we watched them play this epic game of air hockey. The projections of their simulation were depicted on screen. It was so intense.

I mean she held her own. We all watched. She beat him. None of us were about to tell him that. But we all noticed and made note with a slight smirk. 

It wasn’t long before we noticed that he was gesturing over to us. Although, we all just kinda retracted to our games. You know playing it “cool”. Like we hadn’t been watching the whole thing the whole time. 

But we were. She walked up to a few of us and I was still trying to “Play it cool”. Something I don’t do well if you haven’t noticed that already. 

“…and haha. Skyler, meet… Skyler.” He said to me. I looked up,  baffled about what I heard, but was even more confused by what I saw.

It was me. 

A projection of myself? Was I still in a game? Was ‘this’ real? I had been playing for so long that the distinction between my reality was blurred. 

So I assumed it was a game. That was the best way to play it ‘cool’. I had so many questions but was afraid to ask. 

“It’s ok,” She said. “I know… Um, kinda…”

“Why else do you think I brought you guys over here? The pizza is really good but this is something else.” Kurt said.

He knew. The whole time. Probably from the moment we stepped onto the hot air balloon. Was that the reason he was here? Like I said… So many questions. 

“Well looks like you guys have some catching up to do.” He said. “Ima gonna mosey on over here. Let me know when you are well acquainted. I should probably be getting everyone back soon. Skyler,” as he gestured over to the other girl. “You’re coming with me. You guys have your chit-chat or whatever and we’ll take it from there.”