Frontier Online

To Be Powerful Part 2

Ryan's heart beat wildly as the interview wrapped up on his AR display. Kayla's network was known for not pulling tricks like using teleprompters. They won a lot of their viewership by selling their network as a brass-tacks, old-fashioned news channel based on their reporters' abilities. With that in mind, Ryan could only marvel at her ability to lead the interview and hit the highlights. Monte came prepared for the launch, too.

The AR screen in front of his face blinked and flashed a countdown from five seconds. As he watched the numbers count down, Ryan's eyes felt like they bulged from his face, and he stared impatiently at the screen.

The moment the countdown finished, Ryan's head fell back onto the bed, totally unconscious in less than a second. The "pillow" built into the gel-bed concealed an intricate weave of sensors that rested at the base of the user's neck. The design was radically different from other VR apparatus, which focused on a helmeted enclosure. Full capsules were a luxury and not a necessity.

While Ryan knew all of that, having read up on the specs and capabilities a year ago, his mind still tried to analyze the experience of going "full-dive." The trepidation and excitement in his system morphed into everyday anxiety. What if I'm not compatible, it's ultra-rare, but-

His sudden panic-attack evaporated like smoke when his mind filled with an endless field of white. Ryan waited a bit for something to change. Every direction he looked in was white, white, and more white. The rush of relief from before started to wane as his fears crawled back in.

Ryan looked down for the first time and where his body should have been- he saw absolutely nothing.

"Well...I'm a-head of the game, I guess." He lost it at his joke; the stupid pun relaxed him more than any of his analyses of the experience could. Somehow tinkling, bell-like laughter seemed to come from everywhere at once. Ryan froze.

"...Eve?" Ryan's excitement peaked in an instant.

"Oh! You watched Monte's broadcast!" A child-like voice, identical to the laughter, responded.

Any response flew from Ryan's mind and faded into white-noise as he started to chuckle. Uncertain at first, the floodgates released, and Ryan began to laugh uncontrollably. Emotions poured through him so fast he couldn't identify them except for an overwhelming sense of jubilation.

Ryan laughed so hard that hiccups and coughs interrupted the manic laughter. A palpable pulse passed through him, and his whole body sang with energy. Ryan paid the sensations no mind as he started to jump about and shout.

"Yes! YES! YEEEESSSSSS!" Ryan ran- it felt like running, anyway- around and around. He waved his arms, jumped as high as he could, and heaved with joy. The visceral feeling of tears covering his face shocked Ryan so much that he failed to catch himself mid-jump and fell to the ground. The wild mirth halted as the breath fled his lungs.

Confused by the physical sensations and emotions, Ryan retreated into himself for a while. When he caught his wind, the laughter was gone, replaced by wracking sobs as his new madness gushed out of him. Eventually, the sobs subsided, and Ryan lay on his side as he regained control over himself.

The scientist's spirit inside him marveled out loud, "How am I moving? How are their tears on my face? Why can I feel wet, and my breath knocked from my chest? I don't have a body in here, I-I..." Ryan gave up and lay on the ground. Words couldn't express how much he wanted to know and do. The attempt to put it into words left him frustrated with the shortcomings of speech and its ability to convey emotion.

Even now, Ryan felt the ground against his side, and his body tingled with energy like his nerve endings could electrocute another person.

"You know, just an inside-voice "yes" would have worked, right?" Eve's teasing made Ryan's heart fall, and he started to explain, but nary a word left his mouth before Eve continued, "Don't defend yourself. You don't need to. Here there are no boundaries for me. Players' minds are like an open book."