Earthly Endeavors

Mack pushed his throttle all the way forward with his left hand, while his right hand squeezed the trigger on his joystick. In response, his sleek A-ranked Federation fighter shot streams of laser fire forward. Many of them slammed into his opponent - a Blue Rift Pirate - and melted layers of its armor to slag.

Another burst of his guns blew through the structure underneath, and vaporized the pilot inside. The pirate fighter spun recklessly for a couple moments before it exploded into a million glowing pieces.

“You’re gettin’ better, kid,” said Jackson Stone.

The old man’s character appeared in Mack’s comms display. It was just like Jackson himself, but half as young and easily twice as virile.

But it wasn’t just his avatar - Mack had noticed that the game had a huge impact on Jackson. It was as though it breathed life into him, made him younger. At least while he was inside his pod.