Karreal's Paradise

Reader note: This was when my middle grade fiction started to increasingly be set in the same setting as my adult Cyberpunk fiction.

When plugged into the mind-net, the man woke in a wave form beside himself not remembering the dismembering thought of which portal he warped from a to b. A feeling not so different from a rising sinking feeling; it was like there was no time or space; there was no world, only the sensation of the face.

As he walked forward he felt the wind flow by his black hair. And saw what looked like a place to stop for the early evening hours of the game -- and watched for bandits in the matrix. His name was Karreal. He simply laughed. And learned not to get used to the same framework, as it was probably always going to be some randomly generated crawlspace. It was surprising to him how he could smell the smell of the moldy aroma of leaves, that tickled his nose as he picked up it’s rough hand full. The time felt like it was five o’clock, si he waved his hands into the wave form to pause the massively multi-player mind fuck. Five hours and thirty nine seconds, on the dot of the mechanics clock.

Walking along the road, he came to a stop to the main town. Soon got himself going again walking on an unpaved road, something Karreal was going to need to get used to, as this was one of those new code models. A taste of the real thing of the past. No traffic lights, no cars moving swiftly across the cracked road. Only a uniquely generated paradise. There was no cars for which to drive away from the place. Sort of like Amish country, only with more machine guns and black rubber pants.

A flashlight was something one always needed. Where was it, he did not know. Felt his heart pulsing, and walked in a slow jog on the dark sidewalk. Through the town only lit by the glow of oil lights, you can never really feel that twinge of breath go away -- like someone always following you even though the person is not in the flesh behind you. A small mini-mart store was there to greet Karreal, something he missed. He walked inside.

The room was lit by an oil lamp.

“I’d like to purchase a coke.” Karreal said. But instead of a polite response, the clerk indicated a lack of ensconce by his very particular strange look, a demon eyed glare. It was something the gamer biddie would have to deal with.

“What is a coke?” the clerk said. The young man had forgotten in the fog, that was all simply a game, not the glory of the L.E.D lights to tame his mind on his couch in the world of meat space. No chain yanking.

“Never mind man, just get me some kind of drink.”

“Of course sir.” Karreal was impressed that clerk was being friendly enough, given the man particular absent mindedness; His white matter meshwork that was simply left at the pod-net door. “Five gold pieces.”

Karreal was not sure what to do. He poked his finger, an played with the wave form. And got himself a free drink. For a moment, that game seemed to have stopped. Sort of like a time machine stuck in non-motion. The world flashed suddenly, and he heard the voice of dream-scanners. Screaming inside his head. “Stop! Stop thief!” And darted quickly out of the establishment.

As he was running quickly, feeling over all over his body prickly. He met two fellow players: One male, one female. The first one was sporting a pair of shades, the other a one piece sweat shirt. “Hey, can you help me hide somewhere?” Karreal said. At that point against his better judgment, he was willing to trust just about anybody. They directly him quickly to their apartment, which was an underground rat infested shack. It was cold, barely passable. But he had no complaints. He was nearly found, evading merely by a thread.

He had a very hard time sleeping, when he logged out. And was not sure what the implications were of his finders keepers antic. The feeling was a feeling of pounding, a pressure that made him manic.

Karrael was walking, normally to work the next morning. Then he saw a gamer girl caught by dream-scanners. Odd he thought, would they have been after him? But he did not care and bolted. Are they playing a game with me? Or was the theft simply all in my head. Then he realized. Wait a minute, that’s the girl from before. Gun shots, fireworks. Puddles, then silence. Let’s just act normally, this never happened.   And finished his work day.

Then logged back in, or tried. Instead he was banned from the server. There was a wanted poster with his face on it. He wanted to tear down the sheet, but knew that would only draw attention to him. He woke back up, and the sensation in his fingers were numb. And it was at the moment, the first time he ever felt dumb.

Soon withdrawals will kick in.

But he needed to get out of there.

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