Temple of the Mind

A knock sounded on Alesha's door. "Alesha? Are you in there?" Dennis's voice asked.

Looking up, Alesha realized that she'd been so caught up in her distress that she had completely forgotten her promise to Dennis. She wasn't sure she felt like playing anymore… but she had said she would game with him, and he would be sad if she didn't. Besides, it might help distract her for a while.

"Yeah, coming!" She stood up and opened the door. "Sorry buddy, I got a bit distracted. Just missing my friends and school."

"Oh, that's ok, that happens. But that's why you should play with me! Then you won't be sad anymore," he pleaded, wrapping her in a crushing hug. Well, it would have been crushing, if his arms weren't as thin as twigs. Instead it was a pretty adorable attempt at doing so.

Laughing a bit, Alesha assured him she was joining him. She went over and knocked on her dad's door. "Hey Dad, can I borrow your gaming setup? Mine kinda… got destroyed in Faxton… haha," she said, a bit nervously. She was pretty sure he'd let her do so but if he wanted to game today then it wouldn't happen.

"Go ahead," he said, looking up at her and smiling as he glanced at Dennis. "I can tell from how he's hugging you even while you walk around that Dennis is eager to play with you, the little rascal."

"Thanks, Dad!" 

With that, she walked back to the office (in which her father's Gaming Chair and VR device were stored) and asked Dennis what game they should play. 

"Do you want to see the empire I've been building with Marshall?! We've been working so hard and we conquered the humans and the orcs and the goblins already, we're just working on taking over the dwarves before we can take on the elves, then we'll have taken over the whole world!" Dennis enthused, not pausing to breathe at all.

"Haha, sure! What game is it?"

"Ultimate Gamer's World 2000! So what you'll do is you'll get the game started, make sure you choose Dark Elf as your race, since that's what Marshall and I are; if you choose a different race we'll be enemies because we're taking the Total Conquest victory route. Anyways. After that it will ask if you want to make a new game or join an existing one. Join an existing one, then when it asks you whose game you want to join, type in my username, 'xXxBlackDark666xXx' and make yourself my little sister."

"Wait wait wait, little sister? I'm your big sister, you sillyhead! And you and that username," she added, rolling her eyes. He'd been using that name for everything for a couple years now. She had no idea why he liked it so much.

"Well, it wouldn't make sense if the Great Conqueror's older sister joined up after him, would it? Just let me be your older brother in the game, pleaaaase?" He begged, turning his best puppy-eyed face up at her and clinging to her arm in the most adorable way he could manage.

"Alright, buddy, you win. What comes after I make myself your little sister?"

"Then you'll spawn in at my castle, I can add you as a 'friend' in-game and I'll show you how to play! Now get in!" He released her arm and started pushing her towards the Gaming Chair.

"Okay, okay! See you in the game," she said, sitting in the chair and grabbing the VR visor. As she settled down, she sank slowly into the gel of the chair, which molded around her perfectly, the cool surface of the gel not wet at all despite its malleable form. When she was about halfway immersed her body stopped sinking. She laid her head back, putting on and adjusting the visor so it rested comfortably on her forehead. Then, with a practiced two-hand motion, she double tapped both sides of the Visor to turn it on. 

A smooth, mature soprano voice began the power-up script as GG-Soft's logo lit up blue in the upper right corner of her vision. "Welcome to GG-I-8.23, GG-Soft's latest CT-VR system! In a moment, your consciousness will be transferred to the Temple of the Mind, where you can manage your settings, choose which game you would like to play or engage in a variety of our other available CT-VR services. Please ensure that you are in a comfortable, reclined position, as your body will be asleep for the duration of your session. When you are ready, simply say 'Activate CT-VR' and your session will begin."

Alesha laid her arms down, double-checked that she was completely comfortable, then commanded, "Activate CT-VR." 

The light that had been filtering through the dark visor slowly dimmed as electrical signals from the device entered her brain, carrying out a complicated, precise set of instructions which put her body to sleep while pulling her consciousness into an alternate, virtual world.

Looking around, Alesha found a familiar tiled white room filled with widely spaced corinthian columns, the distant ceiling reaching too high and any walls too far off to be perceived. This was illusory, however. When she had first entered the so-called Temple of the Mind years ago, she'd explored and found she could only go about 20 paces from the center in any direction before an invisible wall stopped her progress. If she were to walk over and touch it now, a web of glowing hexagonal silver lines would appear around her hand to temporarily reveal the surface of the boundary, together with a floating text message that would say, "You cannot proceed beyond this point." 

She didn't do so today. Instead, she walked right up to the seamless white altar in the exact center of the room. The altar was as long as a person's height, wide as the length of an arm, and came up to a little taller than her waist. 

She casually tapped it on its top. Instantly, three large holographic panels appeared above the altar, framed by decadent golden patterns made entirely of light. These shifted and swirled in lazy, beautiful patterns around the display panels. The panel on the left was a shimmering silver, dominated by an icon depicting three sliders, each at a different position, under which was the word "Settings" in fancy typeface. The middle panel shifted between darkened previews of various popular games, the word "GAMES" in a bold, technological font in front of them in the center. On the right, a platinum display featuring the icons of various applications arranged in a grid said, "Other CT-VR Functions" in a simple arial font between rows. 

Alesha clicked "GAMES" without hesitation. The three holographic displays vanished, replaced by the icons of a dozen or so game applications her father had installed. She found "Ultimate Gamer's World 2000" on the bottom row.

She selected UGW 2000, the background of which was a golden castle in a forest, with clashing armies in front and the game's title clearly displayed. 

The woman's voice announced, "Ultimate Gamer's World 2000 selected. Would you like to enter now?"

"Yes."

"Starting software…" and the Temple of the Mind disappeared.