Virtual Reality Pt. 1

“It's time for the test, master.”
“Is it really time, already, Console?” The Master Asked.
“Yes, Master!” Console replied as its robotic voice grew serious.
“Then, bring them.”

“Now, remember, Jim, nothing will hurt.”
“I know, Dad,” I said with a look of annoyance.
“Ok, 3, 2, 1... GOO!!!!!” Dad said. The machine made a whirring sound similar to the sound of a car revving up. The world slowly turned to pixels and the surrounding room was replaced by a beautiful new world.
Francisca was already waiting there. She had gone in first. “What took you so long, you preppy spoon?” Exclaimed Francisca, while looking around.
“Preppy spoon?” I asked, confused.
“The console has a built-in censor...” Francisca said. “Anyways, here is our world-porter.”
“Francisca, it's a pickle.” I said.
“Yeah, I got to choose. Great choice, right?” Francisca said.
“So, our style will be wet, disgusting, green things?” I said, annoyed.
“You make it sound like it's a giant booger, Jim.” Francisca said.
“Whatever, lets get on with it. Our job is to look for the bugs while surviving,” I said.

I scanned the terrain for a cave or something that would give us shelter. There was a few trees, rocks, and mountains, and there was a cave 200m away, according to my NanoTech that had appeared over my eye when I entered the world. “Look, over there,” I said.
“What is it, Jim?” Francisca asked.
“A cave, about 200m that way,” I replied, pointing in the general direction of the cave.
“There's nothing there, Jim.” Francisca said, looking at me like I was crazy.
“Ugh, follow me..."
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As we approached the cave Francisca was talking about some boring thing with Egyptians and their afterlife, still failing to notice the cave right in front of us. As we stopped in front of the cave she was still rambling on about Egyptian afterlife and stuff. “Right her,.” I said.
“There's nothing here, Jim, you're hallucinating,” she said.
“Keep following.” I said. We walked straight into the cave and she looked around, amazed. “What the heck!? I couldn't see this from the outside, why could you?” She said.
“I have no idea, maybe it's something with my NanoTech.” I said.
“JIM!!! WHAT IS THIS!?” She said, very surprised. I scanned the cave, looking for anything that could be out of the ordinary. There was regular cave stuff. Although the cave did smell like charcoal I thought nothing of it. “LOOK! RIGHT THERE!” She said as she pointed to blinking green lights I had not noticed before. The blinking green lights lit up most of the cave and were surrounded by a black, shiny, hard substance that looked like graphite.

“Console, what is this?” I asked.
“A compound called corruption, known originally as corro, this substance is what happens to video consoles if they are run too hot. It keeps spreading until the console needs to be replaced.” console stated.
“What happens if it takes over the world completely?” Francisca asked.
“Anything or anyone in the console will be deleted. Permanently.” console said.
“Francisca, we have to get to the C.O.R.E world quickly, before it's too late.” I said.
“Yeah, let's get to the world-porter and ditch this place!” She said.
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By the time we had gotten to the world-porter, I knew everything about Egyptians that you would ever want to know (and more). We both stepped in to the world-porter and buckled up. “C.O.R.E world, please.” I instructed.
The world-porter started to shake and spin at a speed that should have torn us apart, particle by particle. It glowed every colour of the rainbow and a few others.



As we slowed down and finally got to the destination, the world-porter filled with smoke and started to smell of charcoal. We both stepped out of the world-porter, coughing and choking. After we were done our coughing fit, we both looked up at the world and took a gasp. The C.O.R.E world was corrupted. The heat was insane and I seriously regretted wearing warm clothes.
“Hey, Dad... we have an emergency,” I said into the NanoTech trying to keep calm. “Hey, how's it going there, Jim?” Dad asked.
“Not so good, uhh, we have a problem..” I said. “Are you getting the video feed?”
“Yeah, just give me a second. WOAH, that's insane!!” He yelped. “But, this is the C.O.R.E world, it would make so much sense, but that means someone else is-”
“Dad? DAD!?” I screamed.
“Hahaha, your Dad is fine, but not for long.” A gravelly, deep voice said just before the line cut out. “FRANCISCA!” I screamed at her.
“I know, I was listening the whole time...” she said with tears in her eyes.
“W-we have to get over there... to that door over there, it might lead us to dad?” I said, choking back the tears.
as we moved closer to the door, I could feel the heat slowly residing. The door was jet black with a handle made of some sort of crystal that looked 800 years old.

As we finally got to the door, I turned the doorknob. It was cold and hard to turn, but I was able to turn it and push the door in. The room beyond it was polished marble with jet black accents. There was a giant T.V. in the middle of the room. It had what looked to be a recording of a man tied to a pole on it. As soon as I was about to address this to Francisca, a man stepped out of the shadows. He was fat, bald, and he held a cane that probably helped him with his left leg, which he was limping on.
“Hello, children.” Said the same gravelly voice. “My name is Nelson Perpnswagger. Call me Perpnswagger or P.S. for short.”
“What are you doing??” Francisca said, obviously remembering the voice.
“Tsk, tsk, that isn't the question you should be asking. The question is why am I doing it.” He said. “The answer is simple, REVENGE.” And with that he pulled what I believed to be a cane. At that moment, I realized the man on the T.V. wasn't a recording... It was LIVE.
As everything turned slow-motion fire rained down from the sky on the man that was on the screen. I was confused, but then the man looked up. It was my father. I had to help him, somehow. I scanned my surroundings, there was the man, the lever, and the T.V. It was useless. THERE WAS NOTHING OF USE. I stood there, tears in my eyes, helpless and afraid as my father was burned alive in front of me. Francisca screamed “He's dead, Jim!” and then I blacked out.

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“Test complete.” a robotic voice said. I woke up in a cold room.
“Ughhh, how did I do, Captain?” I groaned, just waking up from the consolant. “45%, lieutenant, I'm sorry that I have to do this. I will always remember what you did for our service.” Captain said. “Prepare for extermination.” At that moment toxic gas flowed out of the holes in the wall. I had 6 seconds before I blacked out... forever.