Even though she needed breakfast, Anika didn't wait until she got to a coffee shop before she called Philip Murphy, her solicitor. He was delighted to take her call because they had been heavily involved over the last two years, settling her father's estate, and he knew a call from her would get billed at top rates. After she explained the situation and some of the legal arguments the Everscape rep had provided her with, he promised that he would do whatever he could to help.

She told him that this was an urgent matter and that he should spare no expense in getting her son out of those death traps. After this, he reassured her. He would get straight onto it, but he would need a few hours to dig up the Everscape contracts and read through them, after which he would call her back with their options.

Feeling relieved that somebody was on her side, she headed for the nearest coffee shop to get breakfast. She was tempted to read through more articles about the dangers of the immersion pods but decided against it. Instead, she tried to find out more about the Pure Warheads team her son was now involved with. Hopefully, she could figure out what Ted was getting up to.

Most of the things she read on the Pure Warheads website was beyond her. She could see the rankings and scores of individual players, and league tables for the different teams. It seemed just like any other sports website, except this was all taking place in a virtual world. She spent some time on the player profiles section, hoping that she could find her son and see if there was a way of contacting him through the website. None of the profiles had a Contact Me button anywhere, and what was even more worrying was that none of them used their real names in the game. They all had strange fantasy names. There was no way she could find out which one was Ted.

Philip called back as he promised after two hours. It wasn't good news. He tried to summarise their legal position and the general gist of it was that they didn't have a leg to stand on legally. Unless they could prove that Everscape was being negligent and that Ted's life was in danger, there was little he could do.

The news didn't come as a shock to Anika. The Everscape rep had been quite convincing that morning, she also got the impression she wasn't the first person caught up in this situation. Philip reminded her that because Ted was 18 years old he was entitled to do what he wanted with his life. Even if that meant risking his physical and mental health to play a computer game.

He recommended that she contact the friends and relatives of players who had been affected by the Everscape technology and try to get a civil case together. It was a long shot, but he felt it was the best thing she could do to make a difference. He also suggested that she could join the game herself and speak to him inside the game, try to talk some sense into him.

She had laughed it off when the Everscape rep suggested that she join the game a few hours ago. But now that Philip had suggested it, it didn't sound like such a bad idea. Well, it was a bad idea, but it was the best option, perhaps the only decent option she had available right now.

She returned to the Everscape headquarters and wanted to talk to them about getting an account. When she got there, she avoided the receptionist she had spoken to earlier in the day, she would be less than helpful and Anika was not there to cause trouble. She kept an eye out for the security guards as well.

The new receptionist was thrilled to see her and told her there was no need for her to have come all the way to their headquarters to sign up for an account. They had haptic centres all across London where she could turn up and get an account on the spot, she could be online within minutes. Anika explained that she was new to the game and asked if somebody could help her understand more about it before she joined. Before long she was greeted by an account manager who took her into a small office on the first floor to discuss setting up the account.

The account manager took her through most of the basics and payment options. As he was getting into detail about the premium packs and upgrades, she cut him short and told him she was not planning to join this silly game to make friends or have fun, she was there to find her son and talk him out of playing it. He tried to be pleasant and suggested a few options she may still be interested in. He also recommended places where she could buy her own gear but explained that their haptic centres would have equipment she could rent out hourly.

He walked through the contract with her and she was made to sign several clauses relating to liability for health issues. These were the clauses that prevented anyone from blaming Everscape if things went wrong. She had no choice, she also had no energy left to resist or argue, despite her reservations about the safety of playing this game.

With a pleasant smile, after she had signed the final parts of the contract, he shook her hands and welcomed her aboard as a new player. Before she left, she asked him how she might find her son. He told her that it could be difficult, with over 150 million accounts and at least 50 million players online at any given time. When he saw the look on her face, he tried making up for it and said that if Ted was a pro player, he would most likely have a certain celebrity status. She could probably find him by going to the various tournament hubs in the game. He then wished her best of luck and escorted her out of his office.

Anika took the next two days off work, just in case it would take her some time to find her son. She planned on going to the Everscape Haptic Centre in Leicester Square, which was where Ted had gone to often with his friends in the past.

---

"Can I rent one of your haptic rigs on the basic plan for eight hours please?" She had already spent a few minutes browsing the pricing tables, and the long list of mods and extras that were available. She didn't know what half of it was for, so just decided on the basic package which would allow her to join the game and start creating her character.

"Is this your first time in Everscape? If so, I would recommend our latest haptic suit with Zen Pro gloves and Pro visor. You can choose your own colours but the new suits only come in white." He had a catalogue of gadgets and equipment, some of them she recognised because she had spent a small fortune on this stuff over the last few years, equipping Ted so he could play with his friends when he was not studying.

The suit was comfortable and snug, some kind of mixture of nylon and rubber. As soon it was on, and she had made sure it was a good fit, the assistant came over and activated the vacuum function. This meant that every inch of the suit was in contact with her naked skin. He helped her put the visor over her head as she strapped on the gloves.

"A few housekeeping rules. The suit will monitor your bodily functions, you will get a notification when it is time for you to log out so you can have a rest and go to the bathroom. The basic package includes the use of communal toilets, but the use of a bunk bed adds an extra charge to your bill. If for whatever reason, you do not log out in time and any of the equipment gets damaged, you will be responsible for the cleaning charges. Are you ready to start?"

"How will I be able to tell when I need to go to the bathroom?"

"Like I said, the suit monitors your body. You won't feel tired or hungry inside the game, and you won't know when it is time to go to the bathroom. As you get more uncomfortable, the system will let you know when it is time to stop. I suggest you pay attention to this and don't leave it too long."

This was it. Although she was nervous, she was also excited. Some of the stress and frustration she had felt earlier in the day was gone now. She would finally get to see what Ted had been going on about for the last few years, and with any luck, she could look him in the eyes and talk some sense into him.