“So how does this work? I mean, like, how do I actually go in?”

A pause.

“How do I know when I’m done?”

Bee stood in the lobby of a dive cafe. The room actually was a proper cafe, with little tables and drinks and desserts to have while watching any of the many screens, which showed the anonymized events of the players making use of the rest of the facilities.

“You’ll know. There’s a firmware clock that tells you when you get close to the end.” Danny was with him for moral support. Laura wanted to come too, but she still had classes to attend.

“The software itself will kick you out if you go over time,” The clerk elaborated. “Its a legal requirement.”

The clerk, a friendly looking guy with curly brown hair and gauges in his ears, directed them into a hallway lined with doors on either side.

“First time diving I take it?”

Bee nodded. The clerk nodded back.

“I’ll go over the basic info with you before you go in. Got a game all picked out already?”

Another nod. “Realm of Legends: Eternal”

He whistled. “That’s a new one. I’ve heard good things about it though.” He turned down a corner, which led to a flight of stairs. “What’s the TD?”

“The what?”

“Time Dilation,” Darry answered. “It’s the ratio of real to game time. Different games use different ratios.”

To the clerk. “It’s 3 to 1.”

“Sweet. 24 hours in, 8 hours out.” The clerk stopped in front of a door. “These things put your brain into a sleep-like state, so you might have a little trouble getting to bed tonight once you’re done. That going to be okay?”

“Yep.” Bee didn’t have any responsibilities at all for at least the next 2 weeks. 

Yay…

“Great. Having said that, you should know that sim sleep isn’t quite as good as the real thing. It won’t be an issue for a first-time user like yourself, but if you decide you want to dive more I’d recommend 4 hours of real sleep to go with 8 hours of diving. Basically 2 hours in sim are as good as one hour out of it. That number changes a bit depending on the TD, but it’s a good rule of thumb.”

Danny nodded along in agreement.

“Thanks. That’s actually really helpful.”

“Don’t mention it.” The clerk smiled. “Although if you end up pushing it a bit, don’t worry about it. 8 and 4 is playing it super safe and not everyone needs that much sleep every day. Without further ado...”

He opened the door. Inside was a bed, narrow but long, and barely enough floor space for the 3 of them to stand in. The bed had no blanket, with just a sheet over the mattress and a single, foamy pillow in a neat case. It had a sort of elaborate helmet sitting beside the pillow, with some wires coming out of it connected to the wall. Beside it was a keyboard and some monitors, raised to be used from a standing position.

The Bee quickly sat on the bed. It was firmer than he preferred. Danny stood beside him, looking like she wanted to lend some physical support but knowing better than to try. The clerk walked up to the bedside computer, making a quick check over whatever was on the screen.

“Don’t worry about all the stuff,” Danny waved at the computer. “Commercial machines are bulkier and have a lot of extra gizmos for handling multiple users is all.”

“Yep. Home units fit comfortably on a bedside table,” the clerk said over one shoulder.

“The system’s all good. Ready to start?”

Danny smiled.

Bee sighed, then took a deep breath in.

And out.

And repeated that two more times.

“I guess so.”

He laid down and grabbed the helmet. It was awkward to get over his eyes while already lying down, but it wasn’t really positioned to do otherwise. The headset completely covered Bee’s eyes, resting comfortably on his nose, as well as gently squeezing his temples. It would have been pitch black, were it not for a couple dim lights on the inside.

Another deep breath.

“Okay. Let’s start…”

And blackness overtook him.