I didn’t have a say in the matter.
After class ended, the four of them dragged me out of the school, Craven confiscating my headset and Fickle taking my phone. I’d fought them as though my life depended on it, even kicking Link in the stomach as he tried to hold me off. The orange-haired scoundrel had been glaring at me ever since. Once my belongings were stolen, I was forced to follow Alden out of the school if I wanted them back. Craven walked in front with Fickle at his side, the former occasionally flashing me my phone with a smug smirk. To replace our headsets, we were all given black pieces of meticulously sewn cloth with small enough holes we could see out of. Once they were on, from a distance, it looked as though you were wearing a government-issued headset. Though I didn’t want to admit it, it was semi-impressive. Scowling, I could only follow them outside.
For the first time in my life, I saw the real world.
Huge buildings, taller than the trees I’d seen at the virtual park, towered over me, casting long, intimidating shadows across us. In their windows, several hundred lights flickered on and off, creating a series of blues, purples, and greens. The sky was just barely visible through the rooftops, clouds disappearing as quickly as they’d emerged. On the street, huge bags of trash were stacked up on the corners, some broken open and spilling across the cracked concrete. Small, fat rats crawled amongst the debris, squeaking loudly as they dragged huge cartons of food sludge from the plastic. Above, flocks of drones swerved between buildings, coming within an inch of our heads. Some carried boxes in their small legs; others were solo travelers. A few of them stopped above our heads, surely examining us to ensure we had our headsets. One in particular hovered a bit too long, its lifeless, white eyes sending a shiver down my spine. Finally, after a few tense moments, it gave a satisfactory beep and moved on. Craven continued to lead the way.
A few people were scattered here and there, though most of them were only coming outside to get a replacement drone. One man was stretched out uncomfortably across a collection of trash bags, his skin abnormally pale and eyes focused on the sky. I had a feeling he had long since left us, though my mind quickly convinced me he was only asleep and forced me to avert my gaze. The others appeared unaffected.
Craven led us through the street, skipping over large cracks in the pavement and swerving around the rats that crossed our path. We walked in silence, the only sound hanging between us being the whirring of the drones and the faint buzzing of the computers. Fickle continued to shake my phone at me, though when my mind drifted to our surroundings, she lost interest.
To say that seeing the state of Neo Caladrius was shocking would be an understatement. My parents had always told me that it looked exactly like the clean, perfect utopia in the virtual world, just without the comforts and predictability technology provided. Now, standing on the street that reeked of trash, heat, and death, I was forced to face the fact that my parents had lied to me. Passing another abnormally pale individual, I couldn’t help but wonder what else they lied to me about. My stomach twisted uncomfortably as we headed deeper into the city’s slums, the rancid, nose-burning smell only intensifying.
“Is it what you expected?” Alden’s voice, now calm and devoid of any anger, whispered at my side.
“No.” I couldn’t stop the slight shaking of my voice as we turned a corner, the number of bodies increasing. “It’s…It’s not at all like what I thought it’d be.”
“The real world never is,” He murmured, his gaze sparking with sympathy. I couldn’t even be mad. “So you see what my parents were fighting against?”
I hummed softly, refusing to give him an answer. Admitting my parents could be wrong (I still wasn’t sure) was something I wasn’t quite prepared for.
“Just down this street is my place.” He pointed ahead as we skipped around a chewed-on leg stretched awkwardly across the concrete. “I’ll tell you now: it’s nothing like the apartments you fancy people live in.”
“I didn’t expect it to be. Like you could afford our luxuries.” The bite was missing from my voice as we approached a large, looming apartment building. The sides were collapsing, brown bricks covering the street as Craven opened the door. Inside, mold grew along the walls, the smell of mildew strong enough to kill a man. Through the doors, which were half-destroyed, I could see people sitting with their headsets over their eyes, blissfully unaware of the trash, dirt, and decay that surrounded them. One man’s hand was turning blue as he sat in place, the headset moving everything for him. Bile rose in my throat.
“Here we are.” Alden gestured to a large oak door at the end of the hall. It was the sturdiest one I’d seen yet, though small holes and cracks still littered its surface. “Are you ready to go inside?”
I wasn’t. I really wasn’t. I didn’t want to see what was on the other side. Everything I’d said earlier, the nonchalance I’d feigned as they forced me into this…it had all been talk. I didn’t want to see his mother for myself. I was afraid of who, or what, I’d find. I didn’t want to see any more of the damage that my parents had done. I couldn’t even wrap my head around what I’d seen so far. My brain was trying desperately to convince itself that this was all some elaborate scheme these four had conjured up to turn me against my family, though its efforts were gradually becoming pointless. You couldn’t refute a dead body.
“Y-Yeah, I guess.”
