Mark was up early for the delivery van. Everything he owned other than the few things he was taking with him was packed and in the hall. Within minutes it was loaded and he had several hours to wait until meeting up with Dan.

Whilst he was waiting Mark decided that he would download as many books as he could onto his Kindle. He rationalised that he would spend hours at some point waiting for things to happen and waiting always went quicker if you had a good book. He was restricted by what he was prepared to pay but he found a number of promising titles in the free books and a few more in the selection that was under a pound. This wasn’t forgetting the several hundred books he already had on the device. What else should a student loan be spent on after all?

He reviewed the kit he had packed with him and like a scout wondered if he was prepared. He had the requisite number of changes of clothes, whilst packing some warm clothing as who knew where they would turn up. He also had a good waterproof that actually kept him dry, a reminder of his father’s love of long walks to ‘toughen him up’. He habitually wore hiking boots but also had footwear that resembled the lovechild of flip-flops and said boots. Great for wearing on the beach as it didn’t matter if they got wet, you could walk over stones and they weren’t crocs.

Along with his Kindle he had a phone and tablet although he doubted he be able to use either. Still they were doubling as alternate Kindles so that he could download more Unlimited books by taking two of the devices offline. Then he had his ‘useful’ gadgets, a Swiss army knife, variety of torches, screwdriver set and mini screwdriver set (which were only two objects but with multiple heads and allowed him to take apart electronics as well as doors), an adjustable spanner, notebook and pen, toiletries and only because they were in his bag from his last holiday his passport and European socket adaptor. There was also a few cables and a power bank. He felt that he was missing something but he couldn’t think what.

Eventually it was time to meet up with Dan and get some food. They chatted for a while, trying to imagine what would happen next. Other than the medical they really didn’t have a clue and speculation could only get them so far. Obviously they would be staying somewhere off campus but they had no idea where. Snowstorm had several buildings around the UK and even some in different parts of the world.

When they turn up yet again at the same location as they had visited on the previous two days there were only around 50 people waiting along with them. They were dealt with in a quick manner and it was only a matter of minutes before Mark found himself being examined. The exam was much more thorough than he had been expecting. He was asked to do a beep test whilst having his heart and breathing monitored, a blood sample was taken. He was given a complete eye test as well as tests for hearing, sense of smell and taste. They even did the old reaction test of hitting him below the knee with a hammer. They had a more active reaction test that involved pushing lit buttons on a wall in front of him, with him standing so that he could barely see some of the buttons with his peripheral vision, By the end of it Mark felt glad they weren’t doing a body search as they had been so thorough. He was also somewhat fatigued.

The last thing they did was ask his permission to give him an anti-viral jab. After having lived through COVID this felt like a non-issue so he agreed. Once that had been accomplished he was told to wait in a room until all the others had been tested, which he did. He waited around 10 minutes for Dan to appear and they spent the remainder of the time commenting about the examination.

Finally they were asked to grab their bags and to board a coach. This was done with the minimum of fuss and it was a short journey before they arrived at the local airport. This caused quite some comment as unlike with larger countries it wasn’t normal to take internal flights and they hadn’t been asked to bring passports.

One of the people accompanying them, once again a sharp-dressed man of European origin, told them that they would all be taking a flight to one of the companies bases in Scotland. Somebody shouted out “Don’t we need a passport?” but the joke was ignored.

Even though the plane trip was only a short one Mark managed to fall asleep during the journey. He remarked upon it when he woke and disturbed his friend who was also waking.

“Must be all that exercise they made us do.” He remarked to Dan.

“Can’t disagree with you, it wore me out.” His friend agreed.

A coach collected them directly from the plane and after their luggage was also loaded to the coach. They drove out of a side entrance of the airport straight onto a narrow road that curved around some high hills or mountains. It was difficult to determine which, although it looked like snow on some of the further peaks.

As the road was narrow Mark was glad that they didn’t meet anything coming in the other direction. It was maybe 20 – 30 minutes driving until they reached what looked more like a military base than an industrial complex with barbed-wire at the top of 3 metre high fencing.

There wasn’t a sign outside the area but there was a guardroom. The guards didn’t appear to be armed with anything other than a taser and a truncheon but even so it seemed a bit more severe than the normal friendly check points typical for a UK company. All the buildings were single storey but were of different sizes, ranging from classroom size to large sports hall. Not that you could tell what was in any of the rooms as they had limited windows and all of those had blinds blocking the ability to see in.

The outer area was basic concrete and so reinforced the army base vibe. It didn’t have much to tell anybody about the site. Each building had a large letter or two letters written on the side in white paint so that it was obvious which building was which. However there were no signs of what each building contained.

The group was broken down by sex into two smaller groups. There was a minor argument when one of the men started to argue that he identified as female and so should be in the other group but he was told in firm terms that he could go where he was told or leave the site immediately. After that there was no further argument.

The building that Mark, Dan and the other men were taken to was right next to the building the ladies entered and turned out to be a barracks or large dormitory. There was a bed for everyone with a bedside cabinet to one side and a large chest at the foot of the bed. Each chest came with a combination padlock that the person could set. They were told to find themselves a bed. Sort themselves out and be ready to eat in an hour.

Mark had a quick look around the building and found showers and toilets at the back and given how much exercise he’d been doing earlier that day thought it would be a good idea to make use of both before the meal. He’d already chosen a bed next to Dan and closer to the back of the room than the door. So following his plan he got ready.

When the hour was up they were collected by another suited man who brought them to one of the larger buildings. Mark tried to strike up a conversation with the man but was pretty much ignored. He was told that they would find out more after the meal.

They entered what was very reminiscent of a school food hall. The food was all in heated cabinets with glass covers. There were plates piled on tables before the food line and cutlery available afterwards. A line soon formed and people helped themselves to what turned out to be a wide variety of different dishes.

Mark helped himself to a large helping of food and sat down at a table where Dan joined him. They were joined by some of the others and exchanged names. There wasn’t a lot of chit chat other than basic getting to know people comments. Mainly people concentrated on eating. The lack of information they had been given was remarked upon as was the lack of catering staff.

Eventually they were all done with eating and were directed by yet another smart dressed man to follow him to another building. This building looked large from the outside but when they entered they were in what looked like a classroom about the size of their barracks. When they had all entered and sat down the man who had brought them left through a different door. Very shortly afterwards a screen appeared from the floor at the end of the table they were facing and the lights dimmed.

The screen lit up to show an older man in a lab coat. A label appeared under his face saying Dr M F Adham.

“Hello and welcome to your first day at SnowStorm.” He began. “You are about to join a group of people who are experiencing the newest and most comprehensive virtual reality game ever. This game is so fantastic that you will be unable to distinguish between the game and the real world. Before you can start playing, we are going to have to do some exhaustive physical tests to ensure that we are able to keep your body in the best shape. This is because you will be fully immersed in the VR world continuously for 3 months. Whilst doing the physical tests with some of you we will also be doing some tests to see what sort of character you might play in the game. There will also be some fitness sessions so that you enter the game in your best possible condition. Now if you can all look to your right.”

As he finished speaking, the wall to the right started to lower until the group were able to make out a sight that looked straight out of a science fiction movie.