Virtual Reality ✔

Working with D3

"Ugh, the mail's here," said Amberline, looking to the envelope as it slipped under the door. I was, again, filled with dread. Only this time it wasn't because of our blue suits; it was because I hated that we'd have to work with D3. Fortunately, we were able to return our suits to their original color. That was one less thing to worry about, although I was now afraid to ever leave our laundry unwatched.

"I'll read it," I volunteered picking up the letter and taking it out. Nobody argued so I continued to read. "Dear Gamers, we sincerely hope you were able to befriend D3. Today, we are going back to the last man standing. In order to win you will have to work together effectively and have at least one person from each team alive at the end. You will, as usual, have two lives. This is, of course, virtual reality; however in real life you will always have to work with some people you aren't very fond of. That is all we wish to say, good luck gamers."

"This is a long letter," commented Victoria rather sarcastically, though there was an edge of seriousness.

"On their standards," said Duncan. I was just a little relieved that it would be a familiar competition.

"Should we get ready?" I asked. Without much more conversation we all made our way to the lobby, in orange suits, thankfully. We met D3 there rather reluctantly. Our boxes were merged. One half was orange and the other blue. I wish I could say we mixed, but we all stayed selfishly in our half of the box. The people in charge made it clear to us that we'd only be facing one other team. The one next to us. It was the people who'd informed Duncan and I how we'd won. I felt bad for having to beat them, they were so kind, though on the inside I knew we had to.

They shot us apologetic looks, knowing our situation was worse and more publicized than there's. After that we were put into the simulation. Slowly, the light began to flash and we were able to go explore.

"What the hell is this place supposed to be?" Asked someone on Jaspers team. I winced at his foul language but reminded myself it could have been much worse. To be honest, the setting was pretty bizarre. It was like a five year old girl's dream. We walked on what seemed to be clouds, lollipops scattered like trees beside the giant rainbows with what looked like unicorns crossing them. It was that bad, I felt sick looking around at all the sugar.

"Do you think it would taste good in virtual reality?" Asked Duncan, pinching sugary residue between his fingers.

"Can we even eat in a simulation like this?" Asked Parker in reply, scrunching his eyebrows in thought. He then answered his own question. "We'd feel like we'd ate it, but everything here's fake, so no. We wouldn't be eating; it'd just feel that way."

"Let's focus on the game. Not the scene," hissed Jasper. He took the leader position immediately, as if he'd had something to prove.

"Well, the scene is pretty important to take in," I said, challenging Jasper. What I said had been true, though pondering whether or not we could eat in virtual reality wasn't what I'd meant. He looked at me in anger, but hadn't decided to point out any fault in my logic.

We all split up into groups again, though this time I wasn't going to deny Parker and Duncan being on my group. Yesterday was painful as it was, and we'd stuck together in every game up to date. In fact, the only reason we took Olive with us was because she wasn't terrible and we knew we'd have to work with at least someone from D3, otherwise the people in charge would take away points.

I was about to ask how she dealt with Jasper until I remembered they could hear us. "What should our strategy be?" I asked them.

"Wait, maybe. Until someone's eliminated," suggested Parker. He wasn't confident in his suggestion, it seemed as though that strategy almost never worked out for us.