“Emera! Wake up, it's lunch time. Doctor Kenton will be here shortly so hurry up and eat and shower. You can't be late like last time!” Pleasant dreams were rudely interrupted by the hollering of an irate mother, her shrill shouting the very essence of all evil in the world.

It was such a good dream too. Of course, she couldn't remember what that dream was about, but she could take a shrewd guess as to the contents.

For her, a good dream began with her as a normally developed human being, one with two equally working legs and an immune system that wouldn't collapse at the first hint of a cold. It would then entail herself skipping along the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, smelling flowers and sunshine on a beautiful summer day. Of course, dreams like these were matters of fiction, devoid of the true reality that she suffered through for the past twenty years of her life.

It was the life she was used to, all twenty years of her life spent either within her room or at the foremost hospital in the country that specialized with the underdeveloped people of America.

It was an alright life. She could read to her heart's content, pursue her schooling from the comfort of her home and daydream the hours of her life away, envisioning what it would be like to be whole, to be able to leave the sterilized room that was her prison.

Without the normality of a child's existence, her standard outdoors routine consisted of a push in her wheelchair around the block and sitting quietly, watching other children having fun on the playground. She was never outright included within the social circles of other children, always the feeling of distance between her and the other children as if her very presence dampened the other children's fun. Alas, no child would feel as if they belonged when they were the odd person out.

Thereafter her forays into the outside world collapsed, school became her first prison of friendless solitude. Her immune system didn't properly develop and build to the levels it should have, being excluded as she was from the rough and tumble that was childhood roughhousing. No scrapes or bruises, no accidentally eating dirt or other such unpleasantries. no strength building exercises like running or sports. It all contributed to isolating her from the outside world, leaving her immune system weak and unstable, resulting in an increasing number of colds and illnesses that left doctors stumped on the cure for her weak immune system. They said it was impossible to cure, having not seen a case such as hers that left her with practically zilch compared to the average adult, and that she was unique.

Hurray for her!.

She blamed the damn drugs.

Another sore point for her. Pills twice daily to cure depression, anxiety, and at the forefront of her life of sitting, pills for her damn legs that helped “strengthen” the nerves within them while providing the body with certain chemicals that the body usually produced while walking and exercising.

Bah. She could do without feeling the wrongness there but they said it was an important function to make sure she didn’t accidentally cut herself open and end up not feeling anything while she bled out to death.

She couldn’t help getting mad over it. She was sensitive about her legs.

For her, outside became another prison area she wasn't apart of, with a great big sign saying “stay away, or you’ll be shanked!” Or in other words, she would get grievously sick from a simple journey to the outside. This was her life, all twenty years of it.

With a sigh, Emera got up from the comforts of her bed by sidling over to the wheelchair by her night table, her shrunken legs useless as ever.

Over the years, she had perfected the ability to transfer herself from bed to wheelchair to the shower seat, gaining her the much needed independence from the clutches of a daytime nurse or the help from her busy mother.

It was a small comfort to be independent when all in her life was controlled to the highest degrees such as the special meals pre-planned to help give her the nutrients her body needed without introducing harmful foods to her diet or the prescribed hair products and creams that wouldn't impact her body.

It was all she could do to try to sway her mother to the necessities of a little variety to her life. She remembered when it took her a month of convincing her mother to switch toothpaste from a bland, tasteless paste to the mint variety.

Every choice in her life was a battle to be fought for. That is why she was excited for the Doctor’s visit that afternoon. Today, he would be showing up for the results of a week long testing that would change the course of her life.

After months of convincing her mother to allow her to participate in Doctor Kenton’s program, she had finally been allowed the okay. Today, if all went well with the testing she did the week previous, she would receive a personal artificial intelligence chip that would allow her to enter into the virtual reality pod, connecting her brain to the vast new universe that millions were clamouring to enter.

Already, three hundred and fifty million had entered the virtual universe, joining together in virtual worlds created from scratch by advanced artificial intelligences. From what she had read online, there were numerous worlds that allowed the user the ability to learn within a virtual classroom, play games with millions of players, join realms within the universe, able to customize them to their heart’s content while allowing others to join them as they customize their own virtual world.

All of this was possible with the development of the world’s first artificial intelligences. Now, the virtual universe was monitored with over three thousand AI’s, maintaining the vast expanse of the virtual universe.

Already, game developers with the help of the AI’s, were making games like no other games before them. The games incorporated the AI’s implanted within the player’s head to send signals to the brain that simulate every sensation the avatar within the game feels. Every touch, every smell, every taste. Utilizing the chips capabilities, the user could experience time dilation that lengthened the hours spent within the pod universe, when in reality, only minutes could pass by. It was an amazing technology that nearly everyone was clamouring to use.

It changed everything. from education and resources able to be produced with a thought, teachers were able to help their students with their every need. Not to mention the medical and physiological advancements that helped people to relearn to walk or talk, to experience the life they had always wanted. That was why Emera now had a chance for something else. Something greater to be apart of within the confines of her room.

For once, she would have a fully formed body that responded to her every move, free from her debilitating immune system. Although the regular pod chips were expensive, it was thanks to Doctor Kenton that she was receiving her very own personal AI chip free of expense. Unlike other chips, the personal AI chip is capable of communicating with its host, allowing the specialized chip Doctor Kenton had developed to monitor the host’s body for any abnormalities and other such problems within the host’s body. With this new technology, the Doctor had hopes to utilize the chips monitoring capabilities to learn how to better be able to help his patients.

When Emera had found out about Doctor Kenton’s program, she had immediately sent out an application in the hopes of receiving this chance to experience a whole body within the virtual universe. Three months later and she had completed the week long preparation testing. It all teetered on the results of the testing.

The Doctor had found that she was one of the best subjects to test his new chip on, with Emera’s poor immune system, the chip would have a battlefield of differing abnormalities to focus his research on. It was his dream to change the medical field for the better. Emera would be the first participant to undergo this new specialized chip, changing her life and all sick and injured thereafter, bringing with her an advancement in medicine unseen within this technological age. It was a worthy dream that Emera had read all about, becoming just as much her dream as the Doctor’s dream.

It was to be a busy day indeed.

After a brief shower and a hurried lunch, Emera’s heart raced as she awaited the knock on the front door. Any moment, that door would open and a whole new universe would be hers to explore. She was practically vibrating within her wheelchair.

Her mother, off from work as a financial adviser, read silently in the corner of their living room, a slight smile upon her face as she watched her daughter. Rose Allinor had never seen her daughter so excited. It made her smile to see the first real joy Emera had shown for the past few years. Although she may be firm on the dietary needs of her daughter, she was pleased to see her this enthusiastic. For just a moment, the two of them could forget about Emera’s condition that haunted their lives for years. It was a divider that had separated Emera’s father and herself, ending their brief marriage in a divorce.

To experience as much as Emera had in her life, the little joys that could be experienced were all the more precious. From a birth defect that rendered her legs useless until this very moment, with the joy on her daughter’s face, it rendered her into a sopping wreck, incapable of speech as the front door echoed with dull thunks of a meaty fist.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“He’s here! He’s here! Mom?” Emera turned around, wondering why her mother wasn’t opening the door yet, to find her mother sobbing on her chair, book splayed out in front of her, bookplace lost to the tides of tears.

Oh the tragedy.

“Momma! Cheer up! I promise not to spend all my time in the pod!” Emera, unused to seeing her taciturn mom in tears, mistook the tears for sadness.

Rose, sensing her daughter’s distress over her tears, rushed over to give her daughter a hug and kiss, albeit a sloppy one, on the forehead.

“Fret not, Emy. You can stay within as long as you want. These are tears of happiness! Pah! As if I could be sad for you on this day.” With that said, she rushed over to the door before Emera could reply, her cool demeanor once more in place. With practiced ease, she ushered the rotund Doctor into their living room, his forehead beaded with sweat from the hot summer day,

Doctor Kenton was a large man, in every sense of the word. His belly could be described as a beach ball, but it wouldn’t do it any sort of justice. His cheeks were fleshy and his hands meaty. Not to mention sweaty.

Emera often lay in bed at night, waking up from a nightmare where she had just shaken hands with the Doctor. She shuddered slightly from the memory.

For all that he was round, his personality matched him perfectly. He had a jovial appearance complimented by his large mustache and bulbous nose. Every time Emera had met him, he wore a pinstriped suit that could be intimidating in the right setting, but gave him the impression of a well-to-do individual.

Those who spoke to the Doctor for the first time were often surprised by his care-free attitude and his boisterous voice. When Emera had first met him, he seemed like a kindly middle-aged man with an open heart not often seen in this technology advanced world. Although his appearance could be said to be somewhat lacking, his mind more than made up for it. His intelligence was insurmountable and woe to those who beget him on the topic of his studies.

The man could talk. And talk. And talk.

“...And that is when I came to the conclusion that Emera would be the perfect candidate! So without further ado, Emera if you will, please rest your neck against this brace. Thatta girl. Now, I’ll just line it up perfectly and voila! One little prick in the back of the neck and your chip will be inserted. Rest easy for up to three hours as the chip acclimates with your body, and you should be ready to enter the pod universe. Oh which reminds me! The pod installers should be here within the hour, so best to make some room for it!” The big man rambled on endlessly, his voice a steady beating within her head.

Emera didn’t even remember him bringing in the small device that would insert the chip. Just *poof* and it was behind her neck, ready to change her life. It was amazing what a small piece of technology could do. Manufacturers had perfected the installation design, transitioning the large room filling device to the palm sized brace, easily attachable to the neck within the comforts of your home. Advertisers loved this product, and for good reason.

With the advent of the chip, consumers by the millions were clamouring for the procedure that would enable them to connect to the pod universe. It was a personal challenge for technicians to reduce the size of the device, one they gladly accepted. Over what seemed like a fortnight, but took a year of redesigns and variable testing, the product was ready to sell.

Now over four months later, everyone and anyone could get one. Perfect for the gaming market.

Less than three days ago, the newest virtual reality massive multiplayer online role playing game came out. Already three million copies have been sold around the globe, enticing players from all walks of life. Over two thousand of the universal artificial intelligences had worked together to create the massive game. Even Emera, not much of a gamer herself, wanted to play it.

It would be one of her first multiplayer games, never really having any friends to play them with.

“So Emera whadda ya think? No pain? Everything feels alright eh?” The Doctor said, his grin apparent on his face.

“Huh, what did you say? Sorry was a little spaced out there for a second.” She said.

“The chip girl! The chip! No pain? Nothing feels bad? From your lack of reaction, I assume everything is good to go.” Impossibly, his grin grew even wider on his fleshy face. He looked like a clown.

Emera was fine with that.

After all, her grin matched his and outpaced it by a mile as she realized what the Doctor was saying.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you Doctor! Thank you!” she said excitedly, tears easily falling onto her lap. She didn’t even bother to wipe them off as she was sure more were to follow.