“Welcome to the first ever private demo of The Realm Online, a project that Radical Interactive has been working on since its inception over twenty years ago.” Crystal Fedler did her best not to look nervous as she stood in front of the small classroom full of people. She had been tasked with ushering this group into a new age of technology. A representative for the future of gaming.

Twenty participants had been selected to demo Radical Interactive’s new version of their previously failed VRMMO. These were the elites, a mix of professional gamers and investors. Half would be able to find all of the flaws in the game, the other half were just there to see the progression of what their money had bought. All had to sign non-disclosure agreements before they were even allowed to enter the building. For as advanced as it was, The Realm Online was far from ready for the retail market. This was just a small sample of where the game was headed. “I’m sure you are all eager to begin.” She smiled at the faces staring back at her. “In a few moments, you will be taken to the sleeping bay. There, you will each be assigned a bed. One of our nurses will hook you up to a vitals machine and electroencephalogram to monitor you during gameplay.”

Reaching to the table next to her, Crystal lifted the Felote to show the device to the beta group. Radical Interactive had done their best to design the helmet with comfort in mind, but that was difficult when it was made of hard materials and needed to cover most of the player’s head. They had been tirelessly working on trying to get implant technology to take off, but society was still reluctant to accept the installation of permanent apparatuses inside of the human body, so this was the best they could do for now. It had a familiar look to it, reminiscent of the gaming helmets on the market today, which should make the players feel comfortable, but the functionality was different on many levels.

“Now I know you’re probably wondering why this is an overnight demo. You probably thought you came here to sit in front of a computer, plugged in playing a video game all night, but that’s not quite the case.” Crystal gave her audience a slightly mischevious smirk. “I would like to introduce you to the Felote.” She held up the helmet and slowly turned it so that the group could see its sleek design. Round like a motorcycle helmet, it was completely white except for the black visor on the front that would allow the player to see once they logged off from the game. “This is a revolutionary new gaming peripheral that will allow you to…wait for it…” Crystal moved the Felote to one hand and held up a finger for dramatic suspense, “game while you are asleep.”

There was a mix of collective gasps and looks of confusion from the demo group. Silent questions hung in the air as they waited for Crystal to continue.

“Many consumers come home from a long day of work and plug into their favorite games, often staying up too late and suffering fatigue the following day. This results in decreased productivity and job performance. With the Felote, all of that is eliminated because players are able to get rest while they play. Utilizing technology that taps into your REM cycle, the Felote is able to induce a type of controlled lucid dreaming. As you can probably guess, this has multiple benefits for the player and the gameplay experience.

“Right now when you game for extended periods, you have to take breaks to eat and use the restroom. While you sleep at night, you’re typically in a fasting period. Most people also do not wake up to use the bathroom. Having said that, the Felote allows the player to experience up to twelve hours of non-stop gaming. Of course, we don’t recommend more than eight.” She smiled again, amused by all of the gawking faces. This device was indeed a gamer’s dream come true.

“The Felote induces sleep almost instantly to immerse you into the game,” Crystal continued, casting her gaze down at the device. “This eliminates the problem of insomnia that many people suffer from on a day to day basis. It will also eliminate the need for prescription medications to control the condition. Embedded within the device is an internal alarm clock. You can set it to wake you at whatever time or after however many hours you prefer. For safety reasons, the device does not allow playtime for more than twelve hours. It also has an internal system that monitors your vitals. If it detects anything beyond its parameters, it will kick you from REM sleep so that you can seek medical attention, if necessary.” She finally turned her attention back to her audience. “Now we will discuss what you guys are probably really interested in. Gameplay.”

A few people nodded in agreement, their eager smiles speaking volumes about their hunger for the lecture to be over and the demo to begin.

“While I know you’re all eager to explore everything that The Realm has to offer, unfortunately, we’re still working out the kinks for the world at large. Having said that, you will only have access to a limited amount of features and locations.

“Today, you will be assigned a specific race and class. There are currently twelve planned races and seventeen classes. Mind you, many races will be able to mix and match classes. For the purpose of this demo, classes have been assigned to give you specific starter abilities.

“Considering that this is a short demo and we want it to be as exciting for you as possible, leveling has been accelerated. This will allow you to unlock abilities and customize your character faster.

“Now, if you’ll all stand and come with me,” Crystal took a few steps toward the door and gestured for everyone to follow, “your demo for The Realm Online is about to begin.”

Crystal Fedler was a pretty distraction. The embodiment of the perfect nerdy girl that every guy wished was in his D&D group. Petite frame with a small nose and soft pink lips. Blue-green eyes behind giant round-framed glasses. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, her makeup was minimal, and the ruffled white blouse and beige pencil skirt she wore were nothing but professional. There was something attractively nervous about Crystal even though she currently held all of the power in the room.

Theo might have been interested in asking her out on a date if the situation was different. But that wasn’t what he was here for. He listened intently as Crystal gave them a brief overview of the Felote and his pending experience inside The Realm Online.

This had been an opportunity that he hadn’t even had to sign up for. No, Theo had been selected. One of a minuscule group from all over the United States who had been invited to participate in The Realm Online’s super secret demo.

Looking around the room, Theo saw a lot of familiar faces. A famous Let’s Play YouTuber, a well-known Twitch streamer, and a handful of professional competitive gamers. He fell in with the last of the three, holding the highest rank on two of the top-five most popular MOBAs. Years of experience and countless hours of gameplay had earned him the career of his dreams, to play video games for a living, making more money than most people netted at corporate jobs. At only twenty-two years old, Theo was one of the wealthiest professional gamers in the world. That was what had gotten him here today.

While this was an admittedly incredible opportunity, he honestly wasn’t into VRMMORPGs. Or rather, Theo didn’t really have time to play them when he was constantly fighting to maintain his rank on both Chromalife and Hunt of Conflict. What had made him take the time out of his schedule to demo this game was his connection to Nancy Shelton, YouTube’s most famous female Let’s Player and also his best friend online. Though they lived several states away, Theo had never felt closer to any girl he had ever met. If not for the distance between them, he’d like to think they would have dated. There was definitely an attraction there, even if it was just one-sided.

Let’s just say, Nancy hadn’t just gotten popular because of her amazing personality. She was absolutely gorgeous. A bombshell blonde with the perfect figure and big tits. The skin-tight shirts she wore in her videos probably had fanboys all over the world sitting in front of their PCs with a box of tissues. Despite her good looks, she was the complete opposite of a dumb blonde. Few people took gaming as seriously as Nancy Shelton, and that was a large part of what had attracted Theo to her.

They had met a little over two years ago when she had hopped onto Chromalife to record a Let’s Play video. Back then, Nancy already had a following, but Theo was just beginning to break into competitive gaming. At the time, he was at spot number seven on the leaderboards. Nancy had contacted him through social media to see if they could collaborate. Wanting as much exposure as he could get, Theo jumped at the chance, feeling nervous as hell when they began sharing their cam feeds. Every testosterone pumping gamer on the face of the planet wanted to date Nancy Shelton. It felt unreal that she had reached out to him.

Talking to her was surprisingly easy. He found Nancy to be funny and down to earth. In all honesty, Theo had expected fame to have given her an air of superiority, but that wasn’t the case at all. Deep down, Nancy was just a girl who loved to play video games. Nothing more.

After recording several matches for her show, she stuck around and hung out with him online. They ended up playing together for nearly eight hours before fatigue finally got the best of him and Theo was forced to go to bed. As he logged off for the night, Theo had feared that he wouldn’t talk to Nancy again now that she’d used him for her purpose, but that didn’t end up being the case either. They managed to maintain a friendship throughout the years, even meeting up in person nearly a dozen times at different game conventions. Theo tried to get up the nerve to ask her out on a date, but his confidence always faltered when they were face to face. Besides, what was really the point when they lived so far away from each other.

Now that she was gone, he wondered if he had made a mistake. His first successful competitive match of Chromalife had earned him enough money to relocate if he had wanted to, but Theo had never seen an instance of reflected interest. Nancy had a million dollar poker face when it came to guys hitting on her, and he had never been brazen enough to come right out and disclose his feelings, though he had hinted at them from time to time. Perhaps now, he’d never know if she reciprocated.

While Theo wasn’t a big fan of VRMMORPGs, Nancy had loved them. Every other one of her Let’s Play videos was on the latest and greatest VRMMORPG. More often than not, she’d max out her character, exploring every nook and cranny of the world she was in, crafting the best equipment, doing all of the mundane farming for currency and crafting components. If not for being stuck in a coma, she would definitely be occupying one of the seats around him.

But he wasn’t just here in her honor. No, Theo had heard a rumor—one that had come from Nancy’s lips. Radical Interactive had another secret project related to The Realm—a project that was more involved with the medical side of the company. The Realm was already live in another form.

She wasn’t supposed to have told him. Of course, Radical Interactive had made her sign an NDA as well. But what are best friends for if not to share secrets?

Long before Radical Interactive had sent out an invitation for this closed demo, they had sent Nancy an invitation for a potential beta, one that they probably never thought she’d be able to take advantage of. One that Nancy had often joked about harming herself to be able to participate in. Radical Interactive had supposedly designed a version of The Realm for coma patients, one that had been engineered to restore brain function after severe trauma. Only an exclusive few outside of the company were offered the opportunity to sign up, probably because Radical Interactive couldn’t recruit enough guinea pigs from within. I mean, who would be crazy enough to sign up for something like that—a video game that you probably couldn’t log out of. Nancy Shelton, that’s who.

Theo was here because he suspected that Nancy was currently trapped inside of the game.

After the car she’d been riding in had rolled, Nancy was airlifted to an unnamed hospital. Her social media profiles went silent, which was incredibly strange. Typically, if someone so famous had been injured in such a way, a representative would take over for that person to post updates on their social media accounts about their condition. But for Nancy, there was nothing, just that the accident had happened and that everyone should send their prayers for her recovery. Theo had reached out to her family and received no response. Not even the media published anything after the initial accident.

Months passed without any word or update. No matter how much digging Theo did, he couldn’t seem to find out where they were keeping Nancy or anything in regards to her current condition. Hell, even the private investigator he had hired couldn’t dig up where she was being held. It was all too bizarre.

This was the only place she could be. Not this facility, specifically. Radical Interactive owned dozens of hospitals throughout the United States. More than likely, she was in one of the California hospitals. But this was as good a place to start as any. At the end of his demo, Theo would definitely have questions for the pretty speaker who had introduced them to this new groundbreaking technology. For now, it seemed like she was eager to get them hooked up into the game. Theo was eager for that too, wondering if there was any chance that he’d find Nancy inside.