“Holy crap.”

Before Mickey’s eyes was a circular room of blue, stone walls, and cobblestone floor.

“Holy crap.”

But that wasn’t what shook Mickey—a change of scenery was to be expected. What shook him was the fact that it did not feel like he was wearing the headset.

“Holy crap.”

Mickey quickly patted his face—he could feel his hands on his face. But that wasn’t all. The room was cold—he could feel the heat leaving his body. The graphics too—they were real—maybe even more real than reality. He jumped up and down repeatedly—there was no strange disconnect. He was jumping just as easily as he would if he was in his room.

“Holy crap.”

Mickey was struck into a repeating loop by sheer shock. And now fear was creeping in.

How am I moving my body so well—VR can’t do this. I’ve played on VR sets at school before—VR CAN’T DO THIS!

A ding went off, almost scaring Mickey out of his pants. He turned around and saw a message window—the only thing that told him he was still in a game.

“Please register your Trailblazer name. Your Unlimited Trial will begin after the name has been accepted.”

Mickey stared at the screen and blinked a few times.

“I want to log out.”

A dialog box popped up from the corner of Mickey's field of vision. As his eyes went to the box, a cursor formed to follow his gaze. Mickey tried to not be taken away by it. He quickly pressed yes on the box asking him if he “really wanted to log out.”

Mickey was able to select the “Yes” option with his intention—it all felt so intuitive—and the world flashed. Again he went through a round of disorientation, but in a few moments, he could feel the correct pull of gravity. He wasn’t standing in a room anymore. He could feel he was lying in his bed with the headset showing the portal once more.

He ripped the headset off and stared at it for a second before groping his own head.

“Okay, I’m still here.”

In his mind, he had thought that he had just become trapped in some madman’s video game, like in the stories he had read. Mickey looked at the headset like it was a bomb that would go off if he let go of it.

“What the heck? How is this real?”

Mickey wracked his brain—he had NEVER heard of any VR game that could produce what he just experienced. The technology was nowhere near that level. That type of full-immersion—it was the stuff of science fiction still.

Mickey recalled something. He pulled from his pocket the blue card—the card that started everything.

“This was a promotional card, right? That I found by happenstance, right?”

Mickey began drawing up a hypothesis. It didn’t matter how much he thought it wasn’t possible. The reality was in front of him. What he had just experienced—a full-dive into a video game—had actually happened.

“What if… This is like some super-advanced, super-secret project? The card had a one-time code, right? Maybe this game is by invitation only? Maybe that bird stole the card from the actual recipient—god, what if the person that was supposed to have this card is some heavy-hitter in the tech industry—am I screwed? God. They know my address.”

As Mickey scared himself, sweating profusely at the implications, the game kept running in the background, the futuristic, warping sounds of the portal reaching his ears. It was like a siren’s call.

I want to play.

Mickey was going to play—he just needed to rationalize it to himself first.

“Okay, the code is one-use only. I’ve already screwed up. The damage is done. And I’ve pretty much started the game. What am I going to do now? I could just put it down… But…”

Mickey thought of the money—as far as he was concerned, the money one could get from converting Excia was as good as real.

“I can’t turn back now, right? And I’m already in debt. The game is telling me to resolve that debt too… And, they know my address. If this really is a game so advanced only leaders of industry can play it, then surely they’d know to cross-reference my address against their list of invitees… Maybe it’s a free lottery type of thing? And I got luckier than lucky? I mean, a bird brought it to me. At this point I could assume it's a—” Mickey stopped himself. He couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “A bird brings me a blue card that leads to a game that’s ridiculously advanced. No, not even advanced, futuristic—so futuristic it’s like it’s from a century in the future. And then, everything works out—I get the gear I need in a day, and I don’t get in trouble. Is this really it, an act of God?” Mickey looked at the headset and held it tightly. “Are we really getting a break?”

Mickey thought of his grandmother; he wanted to see her smile more. He wanted her to be around. Heck, it would be nice if she could see her great-grandkids. He wanted that too. He just wanted the grandmother that took care of him ever since the rest of his family passed away to be around.

The gear was already back on his head, and he was lying back down.

“This is our lucky break. Now, I’ve just got to rise to the occasion.”