Victor strutted back into the writing room after lunch. In his hands he carried a 30-inch LCD screen. He set it down in front of my 28 inch computer screen, then adjusted it slightly so an inch was sticking out either side.

Then he gave a satisfied sigh and powered his computer on.

Astra looked up from her typing, ‘Nice screen Victor. How much did that set you back?’

‘A lot,’ he said, cracking his fingers, ‘but it’s more than worth it.’

Hera and I glanced at eachother.

‘Hey Hera,’ I said, making sure to speak loud enough that Victor could hear it, ‘Could you give me a hand with something?’

The pair of us went into my room and Hera gave a gasp, ‘How the hell?’

‘Let’s just say I’m bankrupt and leave it at that.’

‘You wasted all your reads just to get back at him?’

I nodded and she gave me a thumbs up, ‘That’s the sort of pettiness I can get behind.’

We picked up an end each of my new computer monitor and walked into the writing area. Astra spat out the water she was drinking and started laughing, Victor’s eyes bulged and Hera gave a triumphant ‘Yooohooo.’

We set the monitor on the desk with a heavy thud. It completely dwarfed Victor’s screen. The damn thing was so big it spilled over to Hera’s desk.

Victor just stared in wonder while Astra sauntered over, ‘You guys having a dick measuring contest over here?’

I nodded, Yeah,’ I said, ‘And Victor’s just found out that mine’s a whole lot longer than his.’

****

After a couple of days I sold the monitor back to Alex. It was fun for a while and had an epic loading screen, but it’s almost impossible to work on a page that size. I went back to my good ole 28 inch and banked the rest of the reads for the future.

Still, things between Victor and I never really improved. There was this uneasiness between us, plus I had started to realise that Victor wasn’t as single minded about writing as he first appeared to be.

Firstly, there was his chapters. For a guy who spent 12 plus hours a day at his computer he had a slot-like output. A measly two chapters a day!?!

It seemed like he spent most of his time reading other stories, leaving comments, and checking a whole host of other apps he’d paid for.

Then of course there was the stuff Hera had said – or more precisely the stuff she hadn’t said. She’d hinted at this big monstrous thing he’d done to get into Crusher Prison but didn’t actually tell me.

Now I’m a web fiction reader. That means I’m a fanatic. If a story I like is left on a cliffhanger you bet your ass I’m going to refresh that page every hour just to check for updates. It’s like dipping a bloody hand into a pool of piranhas and expecting them not to bite.

So one day I bit – and I bit hard.

It was late in the night and Victor and I were the last ones left writing. I’d just finished spellchecking a chapter and he was in the middle of whatever fluff he gets up to with his time and I just looked over my monitor and asked him.

‘How the hell did you end up in this place?’

Victor blinked, he even looked over his shoulder to make sure I was talking to him.

‘Some people would consider that a rude question Eli.’

‘Well I’m a rude guy, just ask my manager.’

He nodded, I think he was even smiling, ‘I’ve heard.’

Then there was silence. It was awkward. Damn awkward. I made some clicking noises with my mouse just to fill the void a little.

‘I paid to come here.’

The silence grew deeper. Only now it wasn’t awkward. I was dumbstruck.

‘y-you? Got paid?’

‘No. I paid Crusher Media to be locked in here. I want to become an author and everyone knows the best authors are on campus.’

My lips moved but no sound came out.

He scratched his nose, ‘I’ve written quite a few more chapters than I did back home.’

That was it – the dam in my brain burst. His words hit home – that son of a wet towel had paid to be locked up and eat rice crackers and shit in a bucket.

‘YOU PAID TO NEVER BREATH FRESH AIR AGAIN!?’ I shouted, I stood up. My hands were balled in fists. My arms were shaking.

‘YOU PAID TO NEVER GET TO VISIT YOUR FAMILY? YOUR FRIENDS? TO NEVER TRAVEL? TO NEVER SEE THE OCEAN?’

‘Woah, woah, what are you doing?’

I grabbed his monitor, ripped it straight off his desk. I heard his PC fall over but it was a distant sound compared to the buzzing in my mind.

‘YOU’RE WILLINGLY SELLING YEARS OF YOUR LIFE FOR THIS!?’ I screamed, bits of spit hit his face. His mean eyes were back. Those cold, stony eyes.

I hoisted the monitor above my head and I really regret this... I threw it at the wall. Thousands of reads he’d banked up shattered with the glass. I drove my foot into it, crumping the plastic backing, smashing that LCD screen into tiny pieces.

‘LOOK AT THAT.’ I yelled, ‘WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE TO REMEMBER? A BUNCH OF NUMBERS ON SOME SHITTY WEBSITE.’

Tears were rolling down my cheeks and my hands were shaking.

‘You, you chose to come here. You gave up all that...’ I chocked. Then Astra was there. She had her arms around me holding me back from doing anything else stupid. Hera was staring from he doorway of her room. She had this ashen look on her face.

The only one who didn’t seem affected by it was Victor. Sure he was staring at the computer screen a little sadly, but he didn’t seem all that bothered.

Astra pushed me into my room and slammed the door. She made me breathe. She made me count to ten. She made me say my ABCs forwards and then backwards.

‘Okay.’ she said, ‘Why were you beating up Victor’s monitor?’

I shrugged, already the guilt was setting in. I felt bad.

‘He told me why he came here.’

She bit the inside of her cheek and nodded, ‘Yeah. It’s messed up. But still that’s his problem. He’s the one giving up his life. You didn’t have to rage at him.

I took another moment to breathe. Reflect.

‘I wasn’t really angry at Victor – you know – I guess most of that anger was directed at me.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean while I was kicking in that screen I just started thinking about all the time I’d wasted out there not living my life.’

‘You regret reading all those web fictions?’

‘No, of course not. They showed me how to live. Gave me something to aim for – an idea of what an exciting well lived life is about. I’m just angry because now I’m stuck in here.’ I gestured to the walls around me, ‘And I don’t have all those freedoms and opportunities I once had. And when I had them...’ I crushed my hand into a fist, ‘...when I had them I blew them...’

Her hand was on my back, rubbing slow, warm circles while I blabbered.

‘...what I regret is not acting on all I learnt from the stories. Maybe seeing a different country, going on an adventure somewhere, finding love or even just something I love doing other than reading.’

I wiped my nose, ‘If I ever get out of this place. If I ever get a second shot I’m not going to mess up. I’m gonna live life to the fullest.’

She nodded, ‘And I’m sure you will. But for now you gotta make things right.’

So I went out there and I apologised. I got on my knees and begged Victor for forgiveness. I gave him my monitor, my keyboard and my mouse. I told him I was angry at myself. I told him that if he needed anything I was here.

And he just stared at me and saying, ‘That’s okay. That’s okay. That’s okay.’ It was kind of annoying that we didn’t actually discuss it, but I guess he was just shook up.

After that I went to my room, bought the Crusher Media music player and put on some heavy sad tunes. Then I did what my body naturally did when it was sad.

I opened a webfiction and started reading.

It was called SYSTEM // SUMMONER - A Litrpg Apocalypse Redo – a well written story about some dude doing a dungeon run for the second time.

Escaping into a fantasy world took me away from my guilt and anger and eventually I was lulled into a comfortable sleep.