I hobbled my way over to the pod, pushing my thumb against the release button. My leg still ached a bit when I walked even though my rehabilitation had gone smoothly, and was finished about a year ago. I figured it would fade with a bit more time, but even if it didn't I'd just learn to live with it. The pod door released from the latch with a click, a quiet hiss escaping as the ventilated air inside flooded into the dim room.

Looking at the large machine with air vents, a display, an emergency door, and a whole slew of other unnecessary adornments, I thought about how clunky it would seem in a few years if any other companies producing VR pods rose to prominence.

Making sure that the display on the outside read everything as good to go, I sat down on the edge of the pod interior and removed my polymer prosthetic. The stump of my leg was revealed and I couldn't help but run my hands over it, feeling what should've been a regular leg instead of a nub of flesh. It was a type of strange that I simply couldn't describe without a lengthy conversation.

Letting out a small sigh I laid back on the cushioning inside of the pod, settling in before grabbing the handle to the glass door and closing it. I made sure none of the vents were blocked, checking the interior display just to be certain. Everything was in the green so I took a deep breath, relaxed, and pulled the helmet down over my head as I sank just a little bit into the padding. I closed my eyes and spoke out loud for the first time in a month.

"Log in." The words were just above a whisper, my vocal cords nearly silenced by the past few years where I hadn't communicated with almost anyone. Luckily I was still loud enough for the voice recognition to pick it up, and ever so slowly my vision faded and shifted until I found myself standing in a vast white expanse of nothing.

When I looked down it seemed that the floor was slightly reflective, almost enough for me to see myself in it. Instinctively I knelt down and touched it with my palm. It felt smooth and slightly cold, a bit like a slab of granite. The temperature of everything around me seemed to be the same as the ground, though a bit less intense. It wasn't enough to become uncomfortable, but instead like stepping into an air conditioned house on a hot summer day.

As I began to stand I stumbled just a little bit, expecting the prosthetic to be there. I sat back and actually looked at my leg. It was still the same stump of a leg though now what seemed like a transparent version of everything else that was missing stretched out from the mound of flesh that was my current limb. When I tried to grab it my hands just passed through, barely disturbing the virtual construct. I stood up slowly, testing my balance. I was completely steady, as if I'd never lost it. I stomped a few times to be certain, the ghostly extension holding strong.

There was a menu to my right, white words scrolling across a screen to explain where I was and how to set up my virtual home, but I ignored that for now. Instead I began sprinting through the endlessness, not stopping until I was totally satisfied even as the floating screen dutifully followed behind at a set distance regardless of the speed I was moving.

My stamina was limitless in the white void, though I did feel like it would be a good idea to at least set up a basic system for me to manipulate my virtual reality. Turning back to the menu, I found that it was fairly basic, but also tailored for incredibly easy use, based around voice commands and touch but easily alterable. For my own comfort I set it up to work similarly to a computer at a desk as I'd been a little disconnected from technology even as it continued to advance.

A chair sprung up alongside the desk and computer, looking suspiciously like a gaming chair from a decade ago. The desk was a simple thing, little more than a wire frame with a long wooden board attached at the top. It only supported two things, that being a basic laptop computer and a big red button on the side that was labeled 'Emergency Exit.' I was a little worried that I might have to use something like that if things went horribly wrong.

With all that taken care of, the rest of setting up was a breeze, a small selection of games I'd purchased and downloaded into the pod. As it turned out, I could also link some features to outside tech, such as alarms or a protocol to log me out automatically, which I decided to do with the motion sensors I'd set up all over the house, including the ones I'd set up at the furthest edges of my property. If someone came onto my land I'd have cameras in every sector showing up in my field of view, and if anyone got inside my house, I'd be logged out and grabbing a gun long before they could get to me.

Glancing around I figured the white background would be just fine for now, the empty expanse feeling strangely soothing as it was just me and my laptop. With that all done, I ran into one other problem.

I had to determine who I would become while logged into the game that was rather grimly named 'Dead on Arrival.' This decision would determine who I would be inside the game, what quality I would mold myself around and strive to retain, regardless of what the future might bring. I leaned back in the chair, letting out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding in. I began to talk to myself out loud as I had done countless times before when I needed to work my way through a problem. This was the first time I'd done so in almost three months. Before that, much longer.

"I can't be a hero because of the usual climate of games. It wouldn't go over well, and I might end up being ostracized which could have adverse effects on my psyche. I can't be a villain either, as that might not only draw too much attention, but it could also lead me to be targeted by half the game's population. Something in the middle could work, but that would mean I'd either be signing on with a guild or staying out on the fringes of society. To join a guild might end with me becoming some sort of leader just as I always did in the past, something I swore never to do again. Not an option." My words were rattled off quickly every time I did this, sometimes not even stringing together full sentences as I attempted to look at each outcome of each potential decision, making snap judgements and casting aside various plans like tossing aside grains of sand.

"Try to remain a grunt? No, that'd end with me being somebody's number two, which leads back to the same issue. That means I'd have to go to the fringes of society. Raider? No, same issue with being a villain. Can't be anything that preys on other people considering how much backlash I could receive. Bounty hunters are cool, but have inconsistent income. Not a problem for me, but could mean my gear would be outdated for just about every contract. Scavenger? Some of the problems as bounty hunting, but also has various opportunities. Maybe, but it feels like I'm leaning toward the path of a mercenary, which just ends up vague..." It was a strange quality I'd picked up when I was younger, one that made people stare at me until I was done, but it definitely helped to bounce ideas off a metaphorical wall since I hadn't actually spoken to anyone other than grocery store cashiers for the past two years.

I continued mumbling to myself for awhile before I figured I would settle on being a mercenary to start with and see how things developed from there, so long as I didn't stray away from a core principle which would serve to keep my mind and personality whole.

I pondered on what I'd always kept close to my heart, the first thing coming to mind being a desire to keep friends and family safe no matter the cost. That would mean being a white knight in some cases. It would probably be cringe-worthy to others, somewhat edgy, and maybe a little bit of a gag-fest, but I hadn't decided to do this for anyone else in the first place. It would work just fine for the beginnings of who I neeed to be.

If I ended up turning into something different from that, I would only be okay with that change so long as I remembered to uphold that one single part of my soul at the very least. It was a weird feeling to think about my future like that, as if everything I was could be traced back to a single thread that could break at any moment.

Then I realized that if I had been talking to anyone else, and I took a deep breath. "Calm down, edgelord. Doom and gloom only happens on Tuesdays..."

One other thing I was hoping to accomplish in the game was to live a full life. I couldn't do so in reality since I was constantly looking over my shoulder, but with enough safety measures in place I could live fairly happily in a virtual world, so long as I remembered to come up for food and water every now and then.

"So in short, mercenary with a desire to defend people. Won't be able to do anything if I get myself killed, so I'll have to figure that out first. Won't know until we try, now will we?" I placed my hands on the laptop and selected the first game available on the list, Dead on Arrival.

The desk, chair, and white background all faded from view, replaced with a prison cell made of solid steel, iron bars, and an old analog lock that would be more recognizable in a place like the island prison of Alcatraz. Outside I could see only more of the same steel walls and floors that stretched on for some time, likely a hallway. Feeling the lock itself, it was vastly different from my initial assumptions, with a fingerprint scanner attached to the locking mechanism that a secondary key would be used for. It buzzed at me as my fingers ran over it.

Turning back to the rest of my cell, the only other things in the room I noticed were a toilet, a cot attached to the wall, and a full body mirror. Out of sheer habit I walked up to the mirror first, never one to pass up a chance to look at my own reflection. A vain habit to be sure, but everyone's guilty of some kind of sin.

A moment later a screen appeared in front of me, prompting me with a question.

----------------------------

What race would you like to become?

Human - [Currently Selected]

Alien -

Ai Lifeform -

----------------------------

Seeing the text in front of me, I debated for a moment before deciding to remain human, even if it was the fairly boring option. I'd never been one to change my entire race when I played a game, my vanity coming into play once more.

----------------------------

Welcome to Character Creation.

----------------------------