One of the reasons Kyle and I had chosen this particular apartment was that at some point in the past the owners had installed a top-of-the-line AvatR Integration Pod in their spare bedroom. This was a huge find for my younger friend, because almost all Integration Pods were at dedicated AvatR gaming facilities.

Wouldn’t you know it, all of the Buenos Aires facilities were in the city center, an area swarming with all sorts of dangerous, angry monstrosities.

I stood in the doorway for only an instant, breathing raggedly from the walk down the hall. I could tell my heartbeat was unnaturally elevated, could feel it pounding in my chest, and wondered whether it was just the wound or if the disease that had turned the populous was already turning me. I was probably psyching myself out, but I could practically feel the heat of the infection radiating out into my body, warping my cells, turning me into something terrible.

A monster.

I swallowed around a dry throat. “Let’s do this,” I commanded myself, and shoved open the door.

The room was bare, stripped, and bright sunlight from the large window to my left revealed a sleek oblong pod about the size of a twin bed. It gleamed a clean, dazzling white, and read in sharp black letters along the side — AvatR: a Krishn4 Company. This thing had easily cost six-digits for installation. And, despite its simplicity, it looked like it. Did I mention I was in the wealthy part of town?

I clenched my fist around my spear and ignored the alarms that blared down the hall behind me. I still hadn’t crossed the threshold.

I knew that every second of hesitation was giving the ravenous mob of creatures more time to swarm up the building, seeking floor by floor. But I hadn’t been in here since Kyle had first showed me how to fire up the machine, referencing a battered user manual every few seconds and turning the tattered pages with delicate reverence.

I sucked in a breath, hesitating, then was surprised by a flashing movement in my peripheral vision as Webster skittered past my ankles and into the room. The bot cheeped several times, scanning the floor for debris, then seemed to realize that there was nothing but a thin layer of dust. It spun in place and then whirred back to me, bumping into the ichor-crusted toe of my boot.

Cheep.

Was I imagining it? Or did the bot sound vaguely encouraging?

“You’re losing it,” I grunted to myself as I stepped over Webster and into the room. But I knew that I needed to move, and I’d take whatever encouragement I could get.

I might have several minutes, at most, but it wouldn’t take my enemies long to reach us, even if they searched floor by floor. Of course, that was assuming they didn’t just follow the trail of blood. Which would lead them right to the elevator…

I felt my stomach drop as I remembered using my bloody hand to punch in my floor number.

So, that was also assuming they couldn’t figure out how to use an elevator. If they could, then they’d be here any—

Bang!

I swear the entire apartment shook as something with a lot of pent-up anger smashed into the front door.

Note to self: mutants know how to use elevators.

There were roars and screams from the hallway, sounds that were mostly animal and also frighteningly human. My barricade wouldn’t hold for long.

“Fuck,” I grunted, and hobbled as fast as I could for the pod. Luckily, Kyle had done all the difficult programming over a year ago, opening up the control panel and adjusting the necessary settings. All that was left for me to do was smack my palm down on the only button that was visible, leaving a red handprint that marred the pristine white surface.

The pod split in two with a hiss. The top half hinged back, releasing a gentle billow of white mist and revealing an inner padding of firm green gel.

“Fucking cliché,” I grunted, then levered myself up into the six-figure coffin. It wasn’t lost on me that this thing I was about to die in was worth more money than I’d ever had in the bank.

The interior was spacious, so after a second of deliberation I set my spear down alongside me and laid back. I started to hesitate, but another crash galvanized me into action and I reached for the lid. I could practically hear the wooden bureau breaking into kindling, and wished that the apartment’s previous owners had had something sturdier in their entry hallway.

Like a filing cabinet. Or a refrigerator.

Killed by impractical interior decorating, I thought. Great. I was just about to yank the top down over me when I heard something else.

Cheep. Cheep.

Lid still in one hand and pulsing wound lancing pain through me as I twisted my body, I leaned over the lip with a groan. Webster was butting insistently up against the pod, over and over, chirping like mad. I blinked. This is not real.

I opened my mouth, hesitated a second, then asked, “Do you want to come?”

The cleaner bot stopped moving instantly, rolling back several inches. It cheeped again. Just once.

There’s no way this thing actually understands me… But I didn’t have time to waste.

Bang! Crash! Raaawr!

They were inside.

I swept my arm out, hefted the surprisingly heavy bot up into the pod, and slammed the lid down over us. As the soft glow of blue-white light surrounded us, I briefly wondered whether having a robot in the pod would fuck with my in-game settings… or something… But then I realized I was assuming this would actually work, instead of just killing me instantly.

I grunted, putting Webster down beside me and the bot settled next to my hip, rolling back and forth several times like a cat settling in for a nap. There was a gentle chime, and a soft female voice. “Welcome back, adventurer.” But I didn’t have time to interact with Six-Figure Siri. In the gentle light I looked around, panicking.

Then, I heard the memory of Kyle’s voice in my mind. Don’t worry about it, Colin. It’s simple. Just one button on the outside, a button on the inside, and the Pod takes care of the rest. The most important thing though—

I saw a button and punched it hard with the side of my fist. Fast, angry, willing Kyle’s narration to stop.

— is to prepare for pain.

The inside of the AvatR Integration Pod pulsed white. White hot.

I would have screamed, except when I opened my mouth everything was burning.

My lips, my tongue, my throat… somehow even my teeth were in pain. I couldn’t see anything but the blazing light that flashed in my eyes and blinded me, searing my retinas. My brain wanted to shut down, wanted to fall unconscious, wanted to escape from the heat and the agony that felt like it was peeling my skin from my body with its intensity and laying bare my insides.

A single thought raced through my dying mind. These gamers are fucking hardcore.

Then, there was a pop and a wrench deep down in my chest. Deeper than my heart, deeper than anything I’d ever felt. Through the pain I somehow knew, with complete clarity, that my soul had just been separated from my body.

And then everything I was… was gone.

And then I was dead.