Interlude - When The Past Rears Its Ugly Head

Scraping through discarded trash strewn about the laneway and diving into the overloaded dumpsters that lined its footpath, a lone girl sought anything worth of some small value.

It had been days since they'd last eaten a proper meal. The meagre scraps of various foods and drinks that she had managed to find barely managed to fill the gaping pit within her stomach.

She was starving.

Begging on the street corner only earned her the reward of being assaulted by other street urchins, who treated that space as their slice of territory, unwilling to share with anyone else.

Hanging around the front of various stores only threatened her the prize of being chased away by the staff therein, concerned as they were the blonde-haired girl was casing the place to commit a theft.

Growing ever gaunter and more malnourished by the day, the girl was on the verge of breaking down.

Emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically.

"What do I do... I don't know what to do anymore..."

She was reaching her wit's end. Should things progress further upon the path she tread as it was, there would be only one outcome.

Slumping down against a dumpster, she rested her head against it.

"He hasn't come home... He hasn't called... Surely he hasn't abandoned me..."

Those shoes which had already been falling apart were now surviving by tape that held the fraying pieces together.

Her dress, already a second-hand item, was now a sorry excuse for what it previously looked like, used well beyond the acceptable numbers of use expected of it.

Unfortunately, it was all she had left.

This feeling of overwhelming hopelessness threatened to fracture and break apart what little remained of her will.

"You promised... You promised... YOU PROMISED!"

She unleashed her pent-up frustration and pain to no one in particular, the words bouncing off the walls and echoing down the alley.

"Meow!"

Startled, an alley cat broke from its hiding place and took off, last observed with its tail disappearing around a corner.

Not that any relief came. If anything, the hollowness of the release made her feel worse.

The sun was getting low. The streets were a dangerous place to be, within this section of the city, made more so once darkness spread its veil over this corner of the world.

One last dumpster dive and then she would be forced to return home.

Although home, in every sense of what that word entailed, was void of such things. All that it offered was the safety of a veritable bulwark against the outside world.

There was nothing else there that offered any kind of comfort.

Struggling to lift the lid of the dumpster, with a final, heavy push she opened it enough so that she could squeeze in and search through its contents.

"No, no, no... Please let there be something in here..."

Sorting through the items her hands found and subsequently tossing them aside, nothing was found to stave off her hunger.

"..."

Sniffing away the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks, she struggled to hold in the desolation that was poised to finally break her completely.

"Huh? What's this..."

A hand grabbed something made of hard plastic, circular in shape and representative of a halo, it was quite light.

Holding it up to the fading light, she realized what exactly she had grasped.

Along the side of it, the words Helios MKII were inscribed, along with the name of the company which had designed and built it for production.

Obsidian Corporation.

Not that she was all too familiar with the company itself. As far as she was concerned, that particular piece of information was irrelevant.

What was important was the piece of technology she was holding.

With its burnished, dark green body, smoked-out lenses, and flared pieces of material around what was considered the top, she realized the item was a full-dive headset.

"Jeez, this is an old model... Where's the rest of it?"

Scrounging around some more, she located the applicable equipment pieces, power source cording, wiring harness for internet connection, and the like, that were used for the activation and usage of the device.

"Never thought I'd ever see one of these again... How long has it been since...?"

She trailed off, memories of that past life flooded through her mind.

It was a period of her life that she had rather be forgotten. Buried deep within the darkness of her mind, refusing to spare a second thought for the home and family she once knew.

But try as one might, the past is never truly buried there, ready to rear its ugly head when we least expect it, usually during the most inconvenient of times.

"Maybe I can sell this for some money. It'd be nice if I could afford a sandwich from it."

Somewhat nostalgic for the equipment, but not the memories, she pulled it out of the dumpster with her and decided to drag it home, the only item found during her search for something, anything.

Although the prize sought was food, maybe it hadn't been an entirely fruitless day.

After the long trek home that involved her tripping down a flight of stairs caused by stepping on a cord from the equipment, she made it back in one piece.

Minus a few new bumps and bruises.

Tossing the equipment onto her bed, she used what little amenities in the room were available to clean herself up. Thankfully her brother had created an electricity bypass so there was power.

As for the water, he had worked out some plumbing that connected with the cities water supply, so there were no issues with that particular utility missing either.

Grrrgggllee.

"I know, I know! I'm sorrrrryyy!"

Her stomach grumbled, displeased at still being empty for another consecutive day. There was nothing that could be done about it.

Tomorrow would be the next opportunity to remedy her situation.

This was the norm these days for Annabelle. No matter what happened, through the endless struggle to survive, she barely scraped through the week.

Staring across at the full-dive equipment lying there, she once again recalled those days when she had used a similar full-dive rig.

Sure, they had been terribly brutal and ruthlessly cruel, the nightmares still haunted her at night whenever she closed her eyes.

Most people fear the demons under their beds, getting down on their hands and knees to inspect the floor and make sure they aren't there.

Even checking the closet occasionally just to be safe.

But it's the demons sheltering within our minds that are the most terrifying, who wreak incalculable havoc. They're the ones no one can escape from no matter the effort put in to do so.

But they hadn't been entirely bad.

The celebratory occasions shared with parents and brother were such occasions. During those times, it seemed like the terrors that assaulted them would be relinquished, that there would finally be peace.

But soon after, the cycle of violence would return.

Annabelle had never wanted to see another full-dive piece of hardware ever again.

Yet here one was.

Staring at the device, something she never thought would possibly happen dawned on her.

"I can do it... I need food or I'm going to die... If it means I don't starve, then..."

This was the 22nd century, E-sports had taken a huge leap into the mainstream media and lifestyles of all kinds of people living all around the globe.

There was money to be made, if you were good enough.

Except Annabelle had never been good. No matter what game it was, when it came down to the final, crucial moments, she had always choked.

Thinking back on the past treatment her parents had dealt for her failures almost made her vomit in anxiety and terror.

Unrelenting, unbearable, vindictively, selfishly, painfully they had beat their displeasure into her, in more ways than was imaginable.

But there was no choice.

It was her final, conclusive option that had the potential to completely change her life and save her.

Connecting the device to a source of electricity and turning it on, she lay down and placed it over her head, observing the loading screen as the destitute old hardware cycled on and ran through its loading sequence.

PING!

It confirmed its connection to the satellite network and displayed a systems scan, advising her that it was complete and showing all systems were operating normally.

"Okay... It's okay... We have no other choice, Annabelle. Whether we like it or not, this is our last chance at living. We can't afford to make mistakes, so let's do our best! If brother were here..."

Hesitating, still recalling those painful memories, she prepared herself for what she knew was her last chance at surviving.

Then she readied herself.

"Start dive!"