[Erick Sanders]

I tossed my phone away and forced myself to sit up in bed. The gap in my curtain showed a dark sky. The house was silent, Conor and Hannah were unlikely to be awake this early. My muscles protested as I rolled out of bed and my skin prickled at the chilly morning air as I shuffled down the hallway, stepping lightly over the creaking floorboard. I pulled up the news on the phones as I waited for the jog to boil. As usual, information about The Dream plastered the front page and advertisement for credit to dollar transfers flashed intermittently. The first headline caught my attention.

[Chinese official dodges UN questions over alleged torture]

I opened the article and read about china’s alleged torture and incarceration of non-compliant citizens. The article specifying that earlier in the week, ‘United States President denied the authenticity of a leak that the United States was considering military action in response to Chinas In Dream hostilities. Restating that there was no precedent set for actions against nations due to actions outside of the real world.’

This apparently caused outrage as civilian and military personal were currently caught up in conflicts in The Dream and were still demanding action by Governments to condemn Chinese aggression.

I shook my head, James had the right idea I thought, Not creating a war where real lives could be lost was by far my preferred option. People might be traumatised in The Dream, but it was better than being actually dead. I poured the still boiling water of my instant coffee and stirred. Taking a shallow sip and I sat at the table and looked out the window as the hint of light in the otherwise dark sky, reminding myself why I was awake so early. I needed to be in bed by five in the afternoon if I was to make it in time for the trial, and in my morning tiredness I wondered if joining the Grey Scarred Company was worth it.

I read through more articles about the deteriorating state of the world. Unemployment was at its highest in the last ten years as people quit jobs and entered early retirement to enjoy their jobs, while governments were beginning to hike taxes on currency transfer between Credits to Dollars in an attempt to combat the decrease.

Hollywood had its worst week in history for a second week in a row and hundreds of restaurants began closing as people chose to get their entertainment from the Dream rather than in real life. All in all, the news was looking a little more depressing for the real world as people became more established in The Dream. I scratched my nose as I watched a short video of a celebrity complaining that people weren’t watching his movies. Throwing a tantrum when the interviewer questioned that maybe it wasn’t as interesting as what was now free In Dream.

I was jerked back to reality as Connors slipper covered feet scuffed along the kitchen floor, “Morning, you’re up early” He yawned, pouring the still hot water into a mug and dropping a tea bag in.

“Need to be back asleep by 5 this arvo, Jack woke me up. What did you get up to last night?” I asked.

During my more troubled times, when we had first started in The Dream and I had been trapped as a slave on a dusty desert planet, I had avoided Connor and Hannah. Even resorting to climbing through my bedroom window so I didn’t run into them in the hallway. Since then I had been trying to make an effort to ask about their experiences.

“Pretty much nothing. Got Hannah off the couch and went for a walk in the forest. I swear if I wasn’t around, she would spend the whole three days just watching streams and playing games,”

“The whole thing is like a game” I pointed out.

“You know it's not the same, still hurts when you fall down. You still get tired from walking up a hill or running. She has never been one for exercise,” He said.

I did find it odd that a lot of people’s lives changed very little between The Dream and the waking world. After the initial excitement, people had reverted to their normal routines, with quite a few doing nothing more than watching TV all day. I shook my head at the thought, they had a whole world full of things to do or accomplish, their lives now three times the length, but they did nothing with it.

“You should go help out in the city. They could use an extra gun” I said.

“I thought about it. But Hannah didn’t want me to get hurt. Or worse, get P.T.S.D or something.” He sighed, “I know they have really good virtual therapy programs, but it's still a worry, you know”

I honestly did. I may not flinch at loud noises, but I would sometimes feel cold sweats at the sound of sand under feet. “Yeah, I get it. If you ever change your mind though, I know a guy” I told him, finishing my coffee and strolling from the kitchen. I loaded a backpack with weight plates and set off. I only grunted a little as it made my way up the street and turned onto a steep bush trail that ran around through the hills of the local park.

I immediately hate the feeling of weakness that came with being awake. There were less than twenty kilograms in my bag and i was struggling. In The Dream, this would have felt like a light stroll. I wiped sweat from my brow and check my phone, [2.48 km]. I sucked in a breath and continued to place one foot in front of the other pressed up the hill. An hour later I looked out over the rocky shore at the muddy waters of the bay, sweat dripped down my forehead and off my nose. Jack wanted me to tire myself out, I thought. Stumbled once before setting off again, my knees aching as I tried to not go tumbling down the trail.

After ten hours, a trip to the gym, a run and two glasses of whisky, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I dropped down onto my bed as the afternoon sun dipped low in the sky. Sleep coming in minutes.

When I opened my eye in The Dream jack was resting on the bunk beside me, an old paperback book in his hands. “A book?” I asked, sitting up.

“It's one of the few I could find, A short history of Earth from the twenty fifty to twenty-two seventy-five.” He muttered.

“So, you’re reading a fake history for earth?” I asked.

“It’s more like, dream lore” he argued “Plus, it’s just nice to have a book to hold. I get sick of reading off a screen all the time” He folded the old book and tucked it into his bag.

“Come on, we have two hours till Keg will here. I want to get some practice in,” He pulled himself off the bunk, carrying his sword with him. We passed the rows of bodies, soldiers still in the real world, then out past the cafeteria. I grabbed a roll and stuffed it with roasted meat as we passed the tabled, shoving it in my mouth before we emerged into the courtyard.

“Okay, so I think I’m getting a hang of this. Come at me properly,” Jack said, rolling his shoulders and drawing his sword. I cocked an eyebrow and watched him as he cut the air with some warm up swings.

“Are you sure?” Jack nodded.

I knew Jack was a good fighter. He couldn’t be over rank ninety-five without having great reaction times and strength. He lacked technique and experience. One of which I had to admit, I also needed more of. I drew one of Havars swords and asked again, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m fucking sure,” He said, squaring his shoulders and bending his knees.

I exhaled and twisted the dial. I watched Jacks eyes widen as I pushed off from the ground. To me it was slow, but to anyone else, I would have exploded like a bullet from a gun. I used my left hand to push his blade aside and stepped inside his reach. When I returned my perception of time to normal the tip of my sword was resting under his chin.

“Mother fucker! Okay, I wasn’t ready” He coughed, stepping back from the sword. “Again,” He said.

I twisted the dial and dashed forward again, this time he leaned out of reach of my attack and slapped the sword wide with his own. When he stabbed at me, I twisted and pressed my fingers into his forearm. His grip loosened and I knocked the sword from his hand.

Jack stepped back as the tip of my sword rested once again under his chin. “Shit. That was better though” He smiled.

After only a few more attempts he was able to block at least two attacks before. It may have been because I stopped slowing my perception of time, or I may have been his extensive hand to hand combat training, but by the time Keg, Mia and the others stepped through the doorway I was less worried about Jacks chances of dying in the first fight we got into.

“How long do we have?” Keg asked. He stretched his shoulder and clicked his back.

His question was answered as an alarm screeched through the compound, followed by an aggressive male voice. “Everyone, get your asses to the mess hall”

We all exchanged glances, “We ready?” James asked, lifting his axe onto his shoulder.

“I think so. We spoke to the other sections and the rest of ours. We should be good to go, right?” Jack answered, looking to Samantha who nodded.

“Alright then. Let's go”

We followed James into the canteen and slid into seats. The room quickly filled, everyone watching Alaria and the other judges with an alert yet excited expression.

How mentally fucked are they to be excited about this I thought for a moment before I realised that my heart was pounding in my chest and it wasn’t from fear. How mentally fucked am I, I wondered.

“You should all know what’s happening, but just to be sure” Alaria tapped on her scanner and the map of the crater, the strongholds lit up. “You will have two days to find, take and defend a stronghold. No firearms permitted.” Alaria paused and I looked around the room, every man and woman held a weapon in their hands or strapped to their backs. Swords, axes or spears. One man held a trident while another carried a sickle. I shook my head. They looked cool, but I struggled to believe that they would be effective in a fight.

“Deaths will incur an extra hour penalty upon rebirth” I looked at the map. With the almost two-hour time to respawn along with another hour delay. People would be hard pressed to make it back to the strongholds in time to provide reinforcements. Each stronghold was at least twenty or thirty kilometres from the central compound. Even with our enhanced bodies, it would be an hour or more to run the distance.

Alaria motioned to the wall behind us and thick double doors opened to a long hallway and daylight. “That exit is north,” She said. “We will call you up in the order that you arrived. If you arrived as a unit or group, you will be released at the same time. Provided that all members are of the same section”

The first to be called was a group of three from the United States. Two thick muscles men with a lithe third man sauntered through the tables before taking off at a jog down the hallway. Two groups from Asia were next, the room scowling in unison as the group from China walked between the tables. They wasted no time in jogging out into the day before cutting west. I looked back at the map. To the west of us was the stronghold buried deep in the thick forest. What was their plan? I wondered.

We waited patiently as group after group was called forward. Running in different directions once they left. Jack tapped on the table until it was our turn. Silently we slid from the table, looked around the now nearly empty room. I took my place behind Jack and began scanning with my EM sense as we jogged from the compound, Hitting the tree line and cutting west, heading straight after the group from china.