be secretive about this stuff.” My brow crinkled in confusion. “ On some things the game's super tight-lipped, but even Trillium can’t stop word of mouth and someone watching it directly. I mean they could…” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I guess they don’t care that much?” “ Well lucky me, I can see it and debate if I’m ever going to actually play.” I tried not to commit too much. “ You better play, Uncle Grant!” “ Alright, alright. I don’t even know if what I won from work is actually this game. Let’s see it.” I said. Beth smiled and laid down in the ARC. She had wristbands on either arm and one around each ankle. The key one was a band that went along the top part of her spine. It was kept close to the spinal column and could read nearly every signal that went down. “ You’re using those?” I pointed to her ankles. “ The wrist and feet?” She raised an eyebrow in confusion. “ Yeah.” I hadn’t played a game that required them. “I’ve seen them for those exercise programs.” “ Part of the program. Gives you some feedback. If you do something that exerts a lot in the game, you’ll feel it in real life.” Beth smiled happily. “ Why on earth would you want that?” Bodily exercise while playing a game sounded painful. “ Uncle Grant, I’m not this fit because I go to a gym all day.” She responded. I thought about it while Beth laid back and dialed in her machine. VRH Two, also known as a Second Player helm, plugged right into the middle panel on the ARC device. Slumping against Beth’s ARC would be slightly more comfortable than the floor. I slipped the Second Player helm over my head and tried not to think about the pudge that had built around my stomach. Maybe if I invested in a better dance program this waistline would have lost a few inches. That actually sounded kind of attractive. Play a game, dance a little, work out in the process. I would need to dial my real life activities back. Working a job like mine for so many hours would be rough if I was sore the entire day. Only Hal Pal’s constant heavy lifting would make this diabolical plot work. The Second Player helm wasn’t as good as a full immersion. Most of it was visual with a ghost of tactile sensation. Smells and taste were equally hard to replicate with only the headset technology. There was a reason the Alternate Reality Capsule required five hundred pounds of hardware. Comfort was only about twenty percent. “ Log me in.” Beth preferred the vocal command to the physical interface I used. My visor went black and moments later Beth’s Atrium came into view. Everything she saw, I saw. It wasn’t like being myself in a game. This was me piggybacking on another person’s feed while still having my own mind. “ Load Continue Character, delayed intro, five,” She said. “ Commands loaded.” The ARC program responded. I was thrown off by the voice used for her ARC. Deep tones, reminded me of someone from my childhood who used to do movies. The name was hard to place. It wasn’t too surprising when Beth's eyes flicked over to a wall of posters with men on them or when she paused and looked in the mirror. Her character didn’t look too different. Ears were slightly pointy belying an elf or something similarly fantastic. “ Huh,” I said. “ Everything coming through okay, Uncle Grant?” She asked. “ Yeah. Are you an elf?” “ No, demon, half demon, I think, technically. I was transformed from human to this after a long chain quest and reputation grinding.” She gave me an answer longer than expected. “ Weird,” I said. A half demon race of some sort might explain the very faint sunburn that lined her characters skin. Beth, as a child, was an outdoorsy type. Though when I saw her at the door a few minutes ago it was pretty clear her tan had lapsed a lot. “ What do you think?” She waved her arms around and did a few basic stretches. I was stuck staring