Virtual Reality ✔

Trapped.

I awoke that morning along with everyone else, and hadn't had to wait long for the ever anticipated envelope. "We should wait by the door to see the face behind these envelopes," suggested Duncan. He seemed more interested in the unknown face behind it than the actual letter.

"I think the mystery makes the competition more fun," I commented in reply as Duncan picked up the envelope.

"Who knows, it's probably just a delivery guy," said Victoria, ruining our fun. We all gave the suggestion some thought before realizing how true that it could've been.

"How about you read it," suggested Amberline, talking to Duncan. He stared at the envelope for a little and shrugged.

"How about someone else? I just like listening to the letter, not reading it," he replied. Nobody seemed to give his declining the opportunity a second thought as Victoria reached for it to read.

"Okay," she said, tearing it open. When she finally got to the letter she read aloud, "Dear Gamers, in today's competition you, again, won't be directly fighting another team. This time your score will be accounted for by speed, level of success, and how well you all seemed to work together. Todays competition will be called Escape The Room. I hope you all do well, pay special attention to your surroundings, have patience, and as always; good luck gamers."

"Short and to the point," said Duncan. "It's kind of disappointing."

"Hm," said Amberline, seeming to reread the letter. "I didn't expect anything but shooting games in a virtual reality competition. Especially this one, where the pain is so real."

"You have to admit, it would be really cool to actually be in the room," Parker said, not sounding nearly as excited as his words alone would have made you think.

"Do you guys play these types of games?" I asked with curiosity. Looking around I saw people shaking their heads, except Parker. He was too afraid to stand out like that, he wasn't prepared to embrace his inner nerd in front of us. At the same time he hadn't wanted to lie about something that could cause us the game.

"I've played a few in my lifetime," said Duncan, breaking my train of thought. I looked away from Parker and saw that Duncan's face showed that of last nights. Whatever emotion that he displayed, I still couldn't tell.

"Great," said Amberline, probably noticing my inner turmoil and smartly changing the topic. Well, almost. It wasn't the change I needed, but it was enough for a distraction. "Seems how you're the only one who holds wisdom in this type of game, enlighten us. What should we do?"

Amberline wasn't being mean, she was just genuinely curious. Those jokes were just a part of herself and though I liked that she was being real I couldn't stomach how she'd said it. She wasn't mean, but it seemed too kind. I brushed off the thought, telling myself I was thinking too far into things and I shouldn't be concerned about her like that. She was her own person, entitled with rights like everyone else. She could say what she wanted how she wanted and it really shouldn't be my concern.

Duncan gave as much advice as he could, trying to sound experienced when he really wasn't. I assumed 'a few times' really did mean just that. A few. So his knowledge was limited, though we took his advice seriously as not to ruin his confidence, which I also assumed was a show. We all got suited up and arrived at the lobby just in time.

"Gamers!" said the voice overhead, properly getting all of our attention before continuing their speech. "We haven't much to say, only that you should have good communication and be aware of your surroundings."

The people in charge had seemed to want to talk to us less and less as the competition progressed, and before I knew it the ritual began and I found myself in the white box again. They hadn't given us a weapon or armor, so we were just in our plain orange suits. Part of me was glad there wouldn't be any respawning; though I had liked the familiarity of choosing a weapon and armor. Once we were all there, the lights started flashing and we seemed to be sent to the scene earlier than all the other times. It probably had to do with the fact that we were directly sent to the room, no waiting for others to finish.