Chapter 1: Miyo

Miyo was used to waiting, waiting for something to happen. Sleep eluded her these days and she was now submerged in the darkness of her bedroom, her blanket wound tight around her body, as she waited for her alarm to go off. 

She could have perhaps gotten out of bed before that, cleaned her room, and started her day prematurely. But in the end, it was a Sunday, and whether she cleaned her room or not didn't really matter. No one would see it anyway, and as long as no one saw it, she could stand in her own filth for however long she wished. Luckily for her, when the cleaning lady came on Monday, that would all be swiftly avoided. 

She did wonder though, if her father came home from his prolonged and mildly concerning absence and found her room dirty, found the whole house dirty, would he scream at her, berate her for her carelessness? Probably not. Thinking about it, she had probably never seen her father shout or loose his temper. He did give off short agitated puffs a long time ago, when she had still practiced fencing. 

Beep! Beep!

Ah, there it is, Miyo thought and threw her blanket aside. Immediately, the cold air from which she had been protected from, assaulted her body. She shivered, unused to the colder temperatures the transition to autumn brought, and threw her legs over the side. Putting on her dressing gown and slippers, she got out of bed and headed for her bathroom. 

She washed her face and teeth diligently, her hand steadied on the edge of the sink, gripping tightly while her other hand flossed her teeth aggressively. Some of her hair was getting in her face, but since it was short; she had no choice but to endure it. By the end of her morning routine, her hair was stuck to her forehead in black wet strands. She ruffled it, the water shooting in all directions, then headed downstairs to fetch some breakfast.

Miyo had never been able to understand why her dad had bought such an enormous house. He was never home and Miyo's feet tired every time she amounted enough motivation to go downstairs and grab some snacks or water. And most of the time, it was only her in the house. What was she supposed to do with all that left-over space?

As she entered the kitchen, she spotted her breakfast waiting for her on the counter: the last left-over slice of pizza from last night. She could just make herself a sandwich, but she did not have enough motivation or appetite for that, so she just took the cold, hardened slice of pizza and muffled on it on the way back to her room.

She stopped in the doorway and considered for a minute to draw the blinds up and let some light in. She then turned her head to her computer and realised that the brightness from the display would provide her with enough light anyway, therefore she quickly dropped the idea. 

That was kind of Miyo's weekend routines: eating enough to keep herself alive then playing on her computer until evening came about. Unfortunately, she would have to wrap things up quite early tonight, seeing as tomorrow she had school. She grimaced at the thought but soon cheered up just slightly when she realised she would return home from school and continue playing anyway.

Miyo did not know when her passion for video games had started. She just remembered that one day she saw an ad on youtube about this fantastic RPG on youtube, then being immediately sucked in its vibrant and colourful world. The game had an interesting storyline and did a very good job of immersing its players into its world. When Miyo would log off, she would be faced again with the monotone reality. She figured it was because of this sole reason that she kept running back to the game every single day. 

Her eyes flitted to the time. It was only a quarter past ten, which meant she had plenty of time to play until she had to go. Her appointment with the Nexus Corporation wasn't until one o'clock. Though, she did not know how excited she was supposed to be about it. She thought the concept was pretty cool, which was why she signed up, despite her wariness of getting herself into new things. A new world meant a fresh start. She won't live in the Dreamland constantly, but for the few hours she was there, she could leave everything about her life behind. And how she wished to do that.

However, it was rather strange that they would let a teenager test the project that was supposed to save humanity. They were talking billions of people! Allowing teenagers who knew no better was not only suspicious but also very unprofessional. Those were the thoughts that passed through her head but eventually she ignored them. She was even made an Adapter…whatever that meant. She only knew that some sort of fighting was involved. And fighting in a digital world reminded her of her video games. The way Miyo saw it, her admission into the Dreamland meant that she was finally going to achieve her dream of becoming a video game character. She wished hard for superpowers, though that seemed very unlikely. 

Her eyes stole a glance at the time again. An hour had passed and she really needed to get dressed and get going. Andrew would be here soon to drive her and she didn't like to keep him waiting. With a sigh and a slight tremor to her hands, she turned off her computer and headed to her closet. 

Miyo had never owned much in terms of clothes, even if she really did have the means to purchase of variety of clothes from different brands, regardless of them being expensive or not. But as it stood, she preferred loose jeans and perhaps some sort of inconspicuous top. Over the top, she put on a sweatshirt. She perfumed herself frugally and then raced down the stairs. She grabbed her headphones from the table and her phone. She put on her sneakers and bolted out the door. 

Andrew, her driver, smiled as she locked the door, then swept to the side as he opened the door for her. 

"Thanks, Andrew," She gave him a small smile as he closed the door. 

"How's the young miss doing?" Andrew started the car and drove them out. He had always been very nice to Miyo, maybe even too nice sometimes. Andrew was himself a father and he knew that Miyo's own father was seldom home. When he pitied her too hard, he would be extra-nice to her. Though he was not obliged to do so, he often engaged Miyo in lively conversation.

"Good," Miyo answered curtly. 

"We're headed to Nexus Corporation, right?" Andrew kept his eyes on the road.

"Mhm," Miyo was just in the process of putting on her headphones when Andrew spoke again. Though she wished for him to remain quiet, she ultimately put away her headphones as she was going to feel bad for ignoring him. 

"Your father told me that you signed up for some sort of test," he continued. "In a digital world or something."

"Yeah," Miyo nodded, cursing that she needed her father's consent to participate. Well, for at least one more year when she'll turn eighteen and she wouldn't depend on him anymore. Well, she didn't really have much to do with him, but when she'll become an adult she would have even less to do with him. If that were even possible. 

"Be careful, Miyo," Andrew warned her. She wished her father would have expressed even the slightest concern for her. "The way I see it, the Nexus Corporation or whatever is called only wants to exploit teenagers like you."

"I'll tell dad to sue them then," Miyo let her chin fall into her hand and stared out the window. It has been a very long while since Miyo had seen the blue of the sky, or even a healthy tree for that matter. Now all her sight beheld was the mustard colour of the air and sky around them, people hurrying on with masks on their face because the air had become so utterly polluted it wasn't even breathable anymore. They passed some trees but they were emaciated by the lack of nutrients. The bent of their branches was crooked and abrupt, coarse and sharp. Their leaves, if they even had them anymore were all a paled green with splotches of black or brown. At this point, they shouldn't even be able to sustain anymore, but they clung to life with their teeth.

"Nexus Corporation is powerful; he'll loose a lot of money," Andrew answered. The car stopped, hindered by a very large queue that seemed to stretch endlessly before them. People shouted curses and slammed their horns incessantly. Even with the windows shut, the noise permeated, raking Miyo's brain. She grimaced and finally reached for her headphones. 

"Whatever," She finally said with a shrug of her shoulders. 

"You'll have to learn to take the tram or subway these days," Andrew blasted his horn as well. "London traffic is infernal."

And that was the last thing Miyo heard before she put on her headphones and turned the volume up to the maximum. She would go deaf in a couple of years but she couldn't bring herself to care. She guessed she would deal with that particular problem when it arose, but she didn't really think she was going to make it a couple more years. Everyday, the prospect of ending her life seemed all the more enticing. Miyo wished for an escape — death was an escape.