Having taken the VR headset from his head the boy sat up and looked to the window at his left. It was morning, or to be more precise the first slivers of sunlight were seeping out over the horizon.

Suddenly the boy had a real need to go to the toilet, so he sprinted from the room and down the corridor to the shared bathroom.

---

Although you can eat, drink and relieve yourself in QV it only sends signals to the brain that stalls these necessities in real life so when the player returns after playing for quite a while he/she will have an urge to do these things.

As for sleep, well, the way the company CEO explained how their headset deals with this was:

"Imagine the brain is an office. Over time more and more files, your memories, will pile up until you get to a point where these files need to be sorted. That is sleep.

Now imagine if someone was to offer help in sorting these files. You could do other things instead.

Of course the headset isn't 100% efficient as you will still need to sleep however when a player is in QV this 'office' will fill up a fraction of the amount it usually would allowing one to go three to four more times without than they did before."

---

After relieving himself the boy went downstairs to the shared kitchen of the orphanage.

It was currently summer holidays and technically there should be the most kids at the orphanage in this time, however one of the caretakers had somehow gotten some money together and took them all on holiday. But of course the boy offered to look after the place with a few other's. He never really liked talking to people after his parents died.

After having eaten breakfast the boy decided to once again seclude himself in his room and play QV for a little while longer but as he was about to climb the stairs someone called out to him.

"Hey, blockhead!", a large stupid looking boy shouted.

Without even turning around the boy knew who it was so in a dry voice he said,"What do you want Arnold?".

"Who said you could say my name blockhead!", Arnold shouted angrily.

Arnold was not one of the kids from the orphanage in fact his family run the place and this made Arnold feel superior to most of its residents. Especially the boy who had stayed there for quite a long time.

"I don't have the patience to deal with you today Arnold. Just go away!",

Furious at being spoken back to Arnold raised his fist and ran at the boy.

"AAAAARGGGHH!!!", Arnold found a fist planted in his stomach and was blown back two meters dropping him to the floor.

Quickly the boy ran into his room and slammed the door behind him.

---

"I'll tell my dad about this! You hear me!", shouted an infuriated Arnold as he stomped down the corridor.

"What just happened?", whispered the boy to himself as he looked down at his hands, "Since when was I this strong?... Oh well perhaps I didn't notice it before. Let's log back in!", he shouted forgetting about the earlier incident.

---

Meanwhile in the middle of a tall skyscraper known to the world as Quod Venetus Incorporated a young man was pacing back and forth, sweat pouring down his face.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! At this rate the old man will act! We need to find the master copy as soon as possible!",

"Sir, we're working as fast as we~".

"IT'S NOT FAST ENOUGH! Do you think I'm the only one in the firing line do you? After me he will turn on all of you as well. The old devil doesn't like anyone who can just take his money and that master copy is like his pin number! Look for anything unusual or out of place in-game. Search everywhere! It will probably be someone who is famous or stands out! Start your search there."

"Yes sir!"

The man then walked out of the office onto a balcony, expertly raising and lighting a cigarette in his hand.

"God help us."

---

In the 'old devil's' office at the same time a man dressed in a lab coat was talking quietly to the grey haired man.

"It's better than we thought Graham. It's true. It doesn't just affect the mind but the body as well. If we can just keep this secret and continue to develop it I'm sure there will be millions if not billions of people who will give us their life savings for a copy!"

"That's great. But we have an issue."

"What? It's not like anything can stop us now?!"

"We lost a master copy."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned cold.

"You know what this means don't you?"

"Yes, don't worry though I have David working on it. He knows what will happen if he fails us."

---

Lying on the bed the boy shouted,"Activate Quod Venetus!"