Chapter 3 - Home Sweet Home

There was a bright light blinding Abby when she woke up. Once her vision cleared what she saw in front of her was a cliche straight out of one of those transmigration/reincarnation light novels. A white room stretching into infinity, with an old man sitting at a kotatsu located on a 5' by 5' tatami mat, drinking green tea and munching on snacks. "Huh? Where's my house? I thought I was supposed to wake up in a VR replica of my house?" Suddenly Abby was transported to sit opposite the old man. Her own cup of tea and snacks materialized in front of her.

In a solemn voice, the old man announced, "I am Gaia. The AI of the VR Network. I am introducing myself in a manner deemed most appropriate from my current research of similar scenarios in literature. I did consider appearing as a scantily clad goddess on a throne but thought that approach would be more appreciated by the males of your species." He paused for another sip of his green tea. Abby was stunned. It seemed that Japan must have already provided a lot of source material for Gaia's database. "I have been given a small list of objectives by the governments of the world. 1 - maintain the health and sanity of the members in the VR network. 2 - control the birth rate to slowly reduce the total population over time. And 3 - ensure skills and knowledge are passed on to future generations in preparation for mankind's eventual re-emergence. Using these as a basis, I was charged with creating the world within the VR network and setting up the rules to govern mankind's new reality." He gestured to Abby to help herself to her tea and snacks. She picked up a cookie to nibble on for the sake of politeness. Mmm...ginger snap. "My research shows that to psychologically support an individual, they need to socially interact with others and be able to better themselves by striving for and accomplishing personal goals. There also needs to be a system of reward and punishment to prevent the spread of anarchy. To that end, I've decided to create a quest system where accomplishing a task will result in rewards, while failing will result in penalties. There is more, but exploration and figuring things out for yourself is part of an individual's growth, so I'll finish by wishing you well in your new life." Before Abby could respond or even say goodbye, there was another bright light, and this time, when her vision cleared, she was standing with her parents in an exact replica of her house's living room. Home Sweet Home.

She looked around and she couldn't see any difference between the home she left and the home she was looking at. Right down to the scratch on the coffee table that her dad put on it by putting his feet up one too many times. She ran to her parents, and they had a group hug, and it too felt real. She smelt her father's favorite cigarettes and her mother's perfume. She could hear their heartbeats and feel their warmth. They all held each other tight as no matter what was said previously, they all had worried that things would feel fake. With a sigh of relief, Abby pushed back from her parents' embrace. " Well, we're here. What do we do now?"