“So uh, where exactly are we going?” Otis asked from the back seat of the car.

“Airport.” The man replied gruffly. At this, Otis sighed.

“Yeah, I know we’re going to the airport, but where are we going from the airport. I think the woman on the phone, Kaya, said we’re going to a place called Gambia?”

“The Gambia.” The driver stared at Otis through the rear view mirror. “It’s a small nation in West Africa. Population of about 2 million. It’s the only nation without strict regulations or an outright ban on full immersion technology. That’s where the intergration will take place.”

“I see, I cant fault you for utilising a loophole.” Said Otis, shifting his seatbelt. “So, tell me more about this intergration.”

“I can’t, we need to get to a secure location before any sensitive information can be given.” The man said gruffly.

“Well, alright then.” Otis said as he turned to look out the window. As they neared the airport, the driver roated the rear view mirror so he could look directly at Otis.

“Okay, we’re coming up to the stop. Don’t get out until I tell you to.” The man said as they slowed, stopping in front of a gate. A small building was positioned to one side of this gate, and a man was visible through a small window, which had been slig to the side, presumably to allow the transfer of something, money maybe. The driver rolled down his window and handed the man at the cubicle a card. After examining the card for what seemed like hours, the man handed it back, and the gates opened.

“So, private jet today?” Otis asked jokingly.

“Yes, the one over there.” The man said, nodding towards a large black jet.

“Holy shit, this is crazy.” Otis said, bewildered that his snide remark had so quickly been turned on him.

“No profanity please.” The man said.

“Ok, sorry.” Otis said, not wanting to start a fight.

“We’re getting out now.” The driver said as he stopped the car, opened the door, and stepped out. Otis was about to follow until he remembered the orders given to him by the driver. He could see the driver talking to another man with the same outfit, plus a pilot’s hat. They nodded at eachother, and then the driver walked back towards the car.

“Alright, time to go.” The driver said as he pulled open Otis’s door. Otis stepped out, breathing in the fresh air.

“Whew, I was feeling a bit nauseous for a second there.” Otis said, breathing heavily. After recovering, Otis grabbed his bag from the seat next to his, and began walking towards the plane. As he was walking, he heard his name called from behind him.

“Otis, Otis!” He turned and saw the pilot from earlier. “Hey, Im Matthew, I’ll be your pilot for today. If you’d like to head into the plane, and take a seat, I’ll be right in there once I’ve filled out some forms for your driver.” And with that, he turned away and walked back towards the car Otis had just exited, where the driver was waiting.

Otis climbed the steps to the entry of the plane slowly, looking back every step to see what was going on behind him. He saw the pilot and the driver leaning over the hood of the car, signing a form. If Otis payed attention, he could make out what they were saying.

“Do you know anything more than I do?” Asked the driver.

“All I know is that this kid was in a spot of trouble and lord delta decided to have mercy by offering him the incredible, once in a lifetime chance to throw away his life.” At this, both men laughed, and Otis turned away, and walked up the remaining stairs. The inside of the private jet was, to say the least, lavish. 12 reclining seats lined each side of the plane, each complete with Delta View VR goggles.

“Laying the self promotion on thick I see.” Otis said to himself, sitting in the left chair in the second row. He sat there playing with the controls for a while before the Pilot walked into the plane

“Alright, nice and comfy? This is going to be a long flight.” The pilot said as he pressed a button, causing the plane to shake slightly and the stairs to start contracting into the plane. “20 hours to be exact, so, try to get some sleep.”

The pilot had not even started moving the plane when Otis collapsed into sleep, exhausted from a less than relaxing, albeit short day. At the time the plane took off, it was only 3pm.

“Hey kid, get up, we’re almost there.” Otis awoke to the sound of the pilot’s voice. Otis sat up straight up and stretched his arms, almost accidentally hitting the pilot in the face. “Woah there, watch it, you wouldn’t want to get expelled from the program before we even got there.” The pilot said, grinning.

“Wait, I was out for how long?” Otis asked, bewildered.

“Nineteen hours, you seemed pretty tired. Not enough sleep lately?” The pilot said. Looking up, Otis saw that the pilot had dark bags under his eyes, no doubt from driving a plane in the dead of night for 19 hours. “Well, you better get ready, once we touch down, it’s all action.” Otis couldn’t tell whether the pilot was joking, and he didn’t care to ask.

“Im hungry as fu- heck, sorry, I forgot about the no profanity rule you seem to have around here.”

“Sorry about that, company policy. Anyway, let me get you some food. Do pancakes sound good?”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty amazing right now, I havent eaten in at least a day.” At this, the pilot chuckled and shook his head.

“Well, if you want them, you can order them from the VR headset, and the machine will make them, and let you pick them up when theyre ready.”

“Okay, awesome.” Otis said as he pulled on the VR headset by his seat. When he first pulled on the headset, a black screen showed. He was about to inquire when a dialog box appeared that read “FACE DETECTED. POINT YOUR CROSSHAIR AT THE CONFIRMATION BUTTON AND BLINK.” Otis followed this instruction, and sure enough, when he did what had been asked, a UI appeared. He selected food from the menu and navigated to pancakes. He pressed order and was greeted by another dialog box making him aware that his order would be ready in five minutes.

Otis leaned over and looked out the window. Below him was a sprawling desert. Very different to the green landscape he had been used to in New Zealand, but reminiscent of the hot climate he had known during his time in LA. Otis soon found himself drifting into a rabbit hole of reminiscence, which he was only pulled from by the sound of his headset beeping. Pulling it on again, he saw that his pancakes were ready. He quickly pulled the headset off and lifted himself from the seat with a groan. At the back of the plane, he found that there was a small slit in the wall that read “Food pickup.” He stood in front of the slit, and was slightly taken aback when a voice spoke.

“Hello Otis. Your pancakes are being dispensed now.” The voice said, before a bag slid into the slit. Otis took the bag and returned to his seat before opening it. Inside, he found a plastic container, which contained three pancakes, a small container of maple syrup and a small, sealed cup of orange juice.

“Typical airline food.” Otis muttered to himself as he began to eat the pancakes, and found they were sweet, but slightly rubbery.

As he was finishing the pancakes, the pilot announced from the cockpit that the plane would be landing in 15 minutes. Looking out the window, Otis could already see that they were losing elevation. Under them, a sprawling city filled with cars and people could be seen.

“Brikama, it’s a nice city, isn’t it. Very nice people as well.” The pilot shouted from his cockpit.

“I agree.” Shouted back Otis, not sure what else to say. Fifteen minutes later, the plane touched down in a small airport. The touch down was smoother than he expected, and he felt himself looking through the window of the plane in awe as they soared along the runway, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Eventually, they slowed to a consistent pace, and the pilot directed the plane towards a small field near the end of the runway. Once the plane had come to a full stop, the pilot came out of the cockpit.

“Well, here we are, The Gambia.” He said, smiling widely. “I’ll be escorting you to the car that will take you to the testing facility, before I get some rest. So if you just grab your things and follow me.” Otis did as he was told, and a few minutes later, the pair were standing in the field, waiting.

“Oh, see, here it is! Right on time.” A car identical to the one that had transported him to the airport had just rounded the corner of a dirt road that circled around the field before stretching off in one direction. “Well, it was a pleasure to drive you and I may see you again sometime, take care Otis!” With that, the pilot returned into the plane.

Turning around, Otis saw that the car had finished moving, and was now waiting for him. He wandered towards it, and was greeted by a woman who appeared to be a Gambian native.

“Hello! Welcome to the Gambia! You must be Otis?” The woman said with a smile. She was wearing a black and blue dress that accented her tall figure. On closer inspection, Otis could see that right above her heart, the blue lines snaking throughout her dress came together to form the logo of Delta Productions. The Delta Productions logo consisted of an axe and a sword, overlapped in the centre of a large circle, symbolising the greek symbol for delta, the company’s namesake.

“Yes, that’s me.” Otis replied as he approached the car. A man wearing the same suit as the driver back in New Zealand was sitting at the wheel, expressionless.

“Alright, well hello Otis, you can call me Layla.” Said the woman, as she invited Otis to sit in the back of the car with her. “Im assuming you have a lot of questions about what is going on, but I assure you, all your inquiries will be addressed in due time.”

“Okay, well, right now I just want to be done travelling.” Said Otis meekly, illiciting a laugh from Layla.

“Yes, Im sure you would like that, well, no worry, you’ll have the whole rest of the day to relax before we begin the tests tomorrow.” The car began to depart the snmall airport, and enter into the city.

“Tests? what tests?” Otis asked curiously, and almost worriedly.

“Oh don’t worry about it, they’re just some standard procedure tests, you know, checking your blood, testing your mental strengths and weaknesses and the sort.” Said Layla, a little bit too happily for Otis’s liking. “Now, I have been told to ask you a couple questions on the way to our testing facility, just to keep things moving, is that Okay with you?”

“Not that I have a choice since I signed that form, but sure, fire away.”

“You are correct.” The woman said as she drew a small piece of paper from her handbad. “Okay, first things first, have you ever played or known anyone who has played Delta Online?” The woman asked as she studied Otis. “The video game.”

“Yeah I have, I used to play it back when it was available on computer, but I sort of stopped playing once you guys stopped updating stuff on the computer, and eventually shut it down.” The woman began to scribble some notes into a notepad she produced fron her handbag.

“Okay, cool!” The woman said as she finished noting down his answer. “Do you remember what level your character was when you stopped playing?”

“Jeez, I guess around level 30? I wasn’t great at the game, but I had a lot of time on my hands, and I thought what better way to spend it than grind?” Replied Otis, chuckling.

“Alright, and what was the name of your character?” Otis answered this one immediately.

“Neo.”

“Okay! Thank you Otis, those are all the questions. Look, we seem to be coming up on our testing facility now." Looking out the windscreen, Otis could see what appeared to be an old factory, with the Delta Productions Logo printed on it. Outside, a large carpark was full with what seemed like hundreds of cars. Even a block away, Otis could hear the commotion inside, and feel the energy.

When the car reached the carpark, they snaked through the long lines of cars and found a park outlined in yellow. Otis got out of the car slowly, looking in awe at the size of the place.

“Well Otis, shall we go in?” Said Layla, standing by the hood of the car.

“Yes, let’s.” Said Otis, and they walked into the building, and for Otis, into a new life.