Night had fallen as William returned and a cool breeze blew in from an open window. Summer had ended and fall was showing itself with dropping temperatures. Thank Nexcom for that, as where this was it was not a natural phenomenon.

William looked out, pausing to take in the sight of an empty street that ran past his dorm’s window before pulling it down to close. It was that time of night that might be good for a run and he decided to do just that.

A shirt and shorts with shoes tight and at the ready. Locking the door William was done stairs and running.

Fitness in Virtual reality was important. Nexcom, the creators of First, felt they had a responsibility to the community at large to keep individuals from losing themselves in the technology. There was always the possibility for one to spend their life in the capsule and it was their choice should they do so. What Nexcom didn’t accept was abusing the body to accomplish it.

Nexcom had a complete monopoly on the Virtual Reality market at this point which gave them the power to deny it to individuals when they found the justification. Try to stay in the game for too long without sleep and it would eject you. Live an unhealthy lifestyle that harmed your body’s chemistry and it would deny you access completely until it registered you as healthy. Moreover, all systems were interlinked with one another at all times so there no hopping capsules to get around it. Neither could you lie since the machine interfaced directly with your body.

It wasn’t a bad development. Of course food companies that thrived on obesity fired ever lawsuit they could at Nexcom though that drama fest lasted about a day. It wasn’t even an argument of Virtual Reality vs. fast food. Nexcom flat out bought the major companies and shut them down with force, the smaller companies couldn’t survive on their own and simply dissolved. Some thought of it as a show of force for others that might think to do the same while the official release from Nexcom was “it was distracting, so we made it go away.”

The media had a field day with that one… Buying out some of the oldest companies in the world and closing it down because it was distracting... But what could anyone do? They had the money and they did it.

William began to move, slowly at first but then picked up the pace to pass some summer penguins. They were runners that in the winter wore coats with slanted reflective tape that made them appear to have tails in the dark. In warmer weather they took off their coats but didn’t lose the nickname and were just called a ‘summer’ variant.

He caught some looks as he passed; they were mostly ones of surprise in having something new in their surroundings that had only just realized was there.

Pitter patter, pitter patter, his feet continued to move. There were no shortages of places to run at this place.

The institution William attended was sponsored by Nexcom and located near the intersections of the Tasman Sea, south pacific and north pacific oceans. This location was also the HQ of Nexcom which might explain the level of care and development undertaken across the island. In a word, it couldn’t be explained.

It was an island, large in its foundation and even larger in its completion as Nexcom artificial expanded the land. Around its large central mountain, it was now capable of independently housing around a million individuals, at least on record. This number was only the public recordings and half the landmass was dedicated to Nexcom and unapproachable. In that area, there could be just as many or even more but no one knew or was ever likely to.

Where William ran was nearing the outskirts. He was close enough to lightly hear and smell the waves clashing against a cliff but far enough to not be bothered by them. Inland he could see the colossal mountain just peaking over the 20 meter high concrete wall isolating the civilian population from Nexcom’s facilities.

For such a defense, it really made one wonder what was in there.

More immediate were thick trees and colorful gardens. They were not typical of this climate and as such required substantial care, another showing of Nexcom’s wealth. It gave off a subtle feeling that ‘this shouldn’t be here’ yet here it was, living proudly, strong and tall. With all the variety and vivid displays, some might forget they were on earth.

Everytime he ran, William was reminded of where he was and had his mental fortitude renewed. Under such circumstances, his 10 mile run seemed but a trivial matter.

Overhead flew airships, zephyrs running off electric fans. Strangely, they never stopped or wavered. This place was a dead zone for winds that could disturb them and as a result, there was not one car in use as these air ships were more than sufficient to move the residences to their destinations. That is, in addition to the aid of a hover train that circled the island. With the airships moving individuals from terminals a few hundred at a time and most being close enough to the rail to not require the service, this place remained a manmade gem of nature.

It was in this place that William ran.

He ran and ran, displeased at the effort exerting his body yet enjoying every minute of it.

At an empty clearing he rested, taking a bottle of water he brought with him in a gulp while panting heavily.

Here there was just a field of grass but it was still fresh and worth seeing when compared to other sights. And with the mountain in sight to the far off distance, any observation became majestic.

William, grabbed some berries from beside his bench and snacked. They were succulent and juicy and William couldn’t help devouring them in the blink of an eye. He picked the bush that only had a few clean, planning to pick them for ‘savoring.’ That was the plan at least though half of them were gone in the first gulp.

But before he could finish the second gulp, he had a visitor. It was a small, average bird. With tiny grey feathers covering its equally tiny body, it starred at him with beady black eyes. It was him or the berries in his hand as without seeing the whites of its eyes, its black pupils focus were impossible to determine.

Experimenting, William moved his hand with the berries and saw the head move.

…

It was the berries.

William took a berry and tossed it near the bird, unable to take the guilt of eating these berries infront of this small, wanting bird.

Flapping its wings, it appeared to be jumping for joy. It approached with haste and attempted to eat.

…

It could not eat it. The berry was too big and the skin or flesh too thick to rip apart.

William wanted to fall off the bench laughing, it was too cute, but contained himself. He did not want to scare the poor bird.

Instead, he took a berry between his fingers in his other hand and squished it. The juices immediately began running down his finger.

He didn’t eat it, instead he placed his hand on the ground, berry stuck atop his finger.

Timid yet fiercely desiring the berry, the bird abandoned its efforts on the whole berry and approached the finger with quick short hops.

Peck peck, nibble nibble, the bird enjoyed its meal in a flash then flew away. It enjoyed some of the flesh but was mostly after the seeds.

“What a strange bird” was all John could muster before he continued on his run and finished it with a time a little longer than expected.

William finished the dinner he prepared that he so very much did not desire and went to bed.