The sky was a purple-orange hue when Sean locked up for the night and left. His current apartment was a good thirty minutes ride away.

Sean unlocked his bike from the bike rack and flicked on the powerful headlights. He had spent a good deal of money on his bike, wanting to make sure his commute was as smooth as possible.

New lamp posts were dotted on every street, their powerful light guided Sean comfortably back home. The mayor had recently invested more funds into brightening up the city in an effort to make it more attractive to tourists.

Raston City was beginning to boom as more and more people flocked in to see the city that Inside Online had originated from. Downtown was especially a nightmare on weekends due to the high traffic of visitors. The metro was always packed full of people, even on weekdays.

Thank god I had the foresight to rent a place near work. I don’t think I could have lasted commuting to work in that hellish place every day.

Sean arrived back at his apartment complex, locking up his bike in the bike shed. He took out his key card and inserted it into the security system. A retina scan popped up, prompting Sean to look into the machine.

A robotic voice came out from the intercom.

[Tenant recognized. Sean Fox. Apartment 22. Please stand back from the gate.]

He took a step back to avoid the moving gates. They were the new security measures installed by the landlord who boasted it was state of the art technology. The man had insisted they were necessary because more and more people were coming to the city.

Sean thought they were more of a nuisance than anything since he had to scan his key card every time to get in. All he could think about was how expensive the new security system must have been.

The gates rolled to a stop with a clang and Sean stepped through, quickly walking to his place. He bounded up the flight of stairs two steps at a time, reaching his door in no time.

A thump sounded as Sean’s foot connected with a box. It flew into the wall from the momentum of the kick and landed upside down.

“What’s this?” wondered Sean out loud. He didn’t remember ordering anything recently.

The only people that know I live here are my parents, Jason, and the landlord. Maybe they sent me this?

It was about the size of a game console box, though it was more square than rectangular. He squatted down shook the box, hoping to hear something that would give away its contents.

There was no sound though. The box felt heavy too. Whatever was inside, it was packaged well.

Shrugging his shoulders, he stood up and picked up the box.

Then he saw the label.

“To Sean. From Mark.”

They even had his address. He shouldn’t have been surprised at this point. After all, they had somehow tracked him to his workplace even though he had never entered that information on the website. It did feel a bit unnerving to know that they knew where he lived, though.

Sean stepped inside his apartment and turned on the lights, brightening up the dark interior. His meager paycheck didn’t let him live too lavishly. He had a single bedroom set with a shower and toilet. A cramped kitchen was pressed into a small corner of the living space. He ate meals at his desk, having no extra room to place a dining table.

First things first. Hygiene. Even though he lived in a tiny apartment, it didn’t mean he was allowed to be dirty. Sean set the box down by his bed. Then he grabbed a pair of clean shorts and a T-shirt from his compact wardrobe before hopping in the shower.

I’ll never get used to this. The water is so cold. Sean thought as he shivered underneath the icy cold water. He had been showering without hot water ever since he saw his last gas bill. There was just no way he could afford to keep living comfortably on a single job, at least, not in Raston City.

Finishing his freezing shower, he hopped out and quickly dried off. Sean headed to the kitchen and took out his frozen dinner from the fridge, heating it up in his cheap $27 microwave he had snagged from a flash sale.

While his food was heating up, Sean went back to his room and decided to open the box. He moved aside his hamper, making space for the mysterious gift. He then proceeded to slice into the sealing tape with a knife he brought with him from the kitchen.

The box had indeed been packaged carefully. A barrier of styrofoam shielded whatever was inside from Sean’s view. Loose white foam scattered in the air as Sean struggled to remove the protective material.

A piece of paper fluttered to the ground, catching his eye.

He picked it up, recognizing the sprawling handwriting.

“I figured you might need this. Feel feel to do whatever you want with it, but I hope you use it for its intended purposes. Best of luck Sean. P.S. If you ever need me, just call the number on the Mixed Path website. No guarantees I’ll pick up though,” Sean read out loud.

He looked back at the box.

“Is this what I think it is?” Sean exclaimed. His heart jumped in expectation.

Sean carefully removed the packaging.

His jaw dropped. Sitting amidst the white foam was a shiny red circular headpiece.

Oh my god! An Envision Module!

It was the latest model of the Envision Module, priced at $1999.99 in stores.

The first thought that came to Sean’s mind was how much he could sell it for. But then he realized he didn’t have a receipt or anything of that sort. Plus, he didn’t trust himself to sell something so expensive without any legal protection.

There was only one thing he could do. Use it.

“Well, let’s see what the hype is all about,” Sean resigned himself.

He took the headgear out of its charging port and walked over to his bed.

Settling into the bed, he placed the headgear over his head and adjusted it to fit his face. The light from his apartment cut off as darkness filled his vision. His hand searched around for the power button, finding it near his temple.

He pressed down.

The world turned a bright white. He felt himself losing feeling in his body. Suddenly he wasn’t in his room anymore. Sean looked around, finding himself inside a white room of sorts. It looked like he had entered successfully.

So this is VR . . .

A female voice suddenly rang in his ears.

“Welcome to Inside Online. Please enter your identifier code.”

[Identifier Code: ________]