Notes from Emmy:
And moving right along. Here's chapter 2. I hope to have our egg in VR hopefully by the end of the next chapter. Again, if there's any formatting issues, please let me know and I'll get them resolved ASAP. Thank you.
Emmy

                The beeping brought me out of my slumber with a start. Heart racing and swette dripping from my brow, I sat up suddenly, my gaze shifting around the room before I caught the flashing green light over my coffee table. It was just a call coming in. I sighed, trying to will my heart back under control along with my breathing. What ever I had been dreaming must have been pretty rough for me to…

                Oh yeah, bills, the fight with my mother. Then that must mean that the call that just got diverted to my mailbox was from one of my siblings, or even worse, my father. Maybe they’ll go away and…

                No good, the incessant beeping that had saved me from my nightmares started up again. Shaking my head to dispel the last vestiges of sleep, I reached up and tapped one of the icons that would bring up the caller ID. It wasn’t anyone from my family. Trying to school my expression into something not so haggard looking, I took a breath and answered the call.

                “Holey shit Dude, you look like hell.”

                “Hello, Zac. It’s nice to talk to you too,” I replied blandly.

                “No, like seriously Dude, you look aweful, you alright?”
                I stared at my sort-of friend, noting his background. He was in what looked like a huge city of some kind, large towering buildings of glass and metal towering behind him, neon lights from street signs casting colored light over his form, the scene looking washed out on my outdated holoprojector.
                “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said automatically. I really didn’t want to get into the shitshow that was my personal life with him and I hoped he would take the hint. Zac stared at me a moment longer, his head tilted to one side as though he were looking at an interesting specimen. “Meh, if you’re sure.”

                I nodded, hoping he’d take the hint again. This time he did. “Well hey, so there’s this new game I think you’d love. It’s a cyberpunk themed MMO. Figured if you get the chance, you could hop in your pod and meet up with me. There’s really a lot to do, and the world is massive, like super massive. I wanted to start a party, and you’re really good at gaming and…”

                “I can’t,” I muttered dejectedly. “I don’t have a pod anymore.”
                “Dude, seriously?” Zac was a good enough guy. In fact I’d known him from school, but tact wasn’t anything he ever had an abundance of. “What the hell happened, did you sell it or something?”
                That one bit, hard. I tried to hide my wince by pretending to look off camera, but naturally he saw the expression before I could cover it up. “Felix?”
                I glanced back at the screen and shrugged. “Or something,” I replied at last.

                “Wait, you sold your pod?” He asked again, this time his voice taking on a gentle tone that wasn’t like him.

                “I was really behind on my rent a few months back. It was the only thing I had of value that might get me anything. So, I did what I had to. Fat lot of good it did me,” The last bit wasn’t meant to be heard by Zac’s ears, but I knew he heard when he blinked at me, his hand coming up to wipe swette from his forehead.

                “No shit. Damn, Felix, I’m really sorry. I had no idea. Why didn’t you say anything? I could have, would have helped you out if I knew.”

                I shook my head. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him, I just didn’t have that kind of luck. No one gave me that kind of thought. “Would you have?”

                It was an honest question, but this time it was Zac’s turn to wince. “Dude, Bro. Look, I know we’re not all that close, but I care about you. I don’t want to see you homeless or anything.”

                “I didn’t say anything. I wanted to tell him that I would be alright, that I would manage somehow, asure him that I had everything under control, but the words wouldn’t come out. All I could do is flap my lips soundlessly.
                “Listen. I want to help you. If it’s money you need, I got you. I’m doing well enough right now with all my endorsement from streaming, I could get you out of whatever bind you’re in. How are you doing for resources right now?”

                Again, I couldn’t get the words out. I didn’t even know what I wanted to say. Pride said to decline any offer of help that was offered me, that I didn’t need it, but the argument with my mother in and of itself was a nod to how desperate my situation was. I did go ask my parents for help, so pride could just shut the fuck up and let me think for a minute.

                “I couldn’t ever pay you back though,” I finally blurted out. Even with my job and Basic Income I can’t even keep my head above water as it is now.”

                “Look, we’ll figure that out. I’m not a loan shark. Maybe if we can get you set up with a new rig we can get you streaming. I could feature you on my channel and you’re good enough at gaming we could probably get something going for you. Let me at least help you get on some even footing. I don’t want to see someone like you out there on the streets.”
                Someone like me? I wondered what he meant by that but he wasn’t done. “Send me your details, I’ll wire you enough to take care of what ever you owe on your rent and maybe get you ahead a month or two while we figure things out. I told you Man, I just want to help. If you really don’t want it, I’ll respect it and drop it and we’ll never talk about it again, but…”

                “Okay, but pleas, not too much? I’m worried about this idea. I don’t want to feel like I owe you my livelihood or something.”
                “Deal,” Zac said with a nod. Behind him, I saw someone, presumably another player flit by on what looked like a futuristic version of a skateboard, but the image was too washed out to make out details. Damn it, I missed VR.

                With a flick of my wrist, I brought up a menu that had all my personal information, including a link to my bank account. A moment later and I sent the information to Zac who was now staring slightly above and to the left of his virtual cam, his eyes darting about in their sockets, a sign that he was interacting with his own series of menues. A moment later, the notification of a wire transfer to my bank account popped up on my holoscreen.

                “Holey… Um, Zac, I think you sent too much.” I stared at the little digits that represented my balance, my mind struggling to process what I was seeing.

                “Nope. I had to confirm the amount, twice, so I’m sure that’s what I meant to send you.” Zac said, his hand now scratching the back of his head in amusement.
                “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t send too much?” I managed to get out finally, my eyes lifting to his.

                “We agreed that I wouldn’t send you too much, but we never agreed on a price.”
`               “I’m not saying I’m not greatful or anything, but, Dude! I’ll never be able to pay this amount back. I’m just a customer support guy afterall.” I was on the verge of having a panic attack, my chest constricting as the need for oxygen grew stronger and stronger.

                “I told you, I’m going to help get you set up with a streaming channel. Take some of that and get yourself a pod. Doesn’t need to be anything fancy, just something you can use for full emersion gaming. When you get in here, we’ll figure everything else out, okay?”

                I knew Zac had money. I mean he wasn’t the largest content creator on the FTLN, but I knew he had a couple thousand subscribers and he was always streaming his adventures for the enjoyment of others, but this? This was a lot of money. Suddenly, I was awash with a mixture of confusing emotions. I wanted to cry, wanted to hug him, wanted to scream obscenities at the walls for my current situation, but all I could manage was a week “Thank you.”

                “Don’t worry about it. Get your rent paid, order yourself a new pod, then create a character in Cyberplex. When you have your pod, flick me a message and I’ll tell you where to spawn in, then we’ll go from there.

                I nodded meekly, my mind churning. “Okay, I will.”

                “Good!” He clapped his hands and my eye caught the hardware on his person. “I got some stuff I have to do, but I’m looking forward to seeing you in game as soon as possible.”

                “Does it have anything to do with all those guns hanging off of you?” I was just babbling now, my mind spitting out words while it fixated on other things, like how the hell I was going to pay him back.

                Zac smiled, his teeth gleaming in the neon light that bathed him in its glow. “Maybe. You’ll just have to wait and see when you get in here.”

                The rest of the call was uneventful, with Zac giving me the very basics on the game. I had to admit, it sounded intriguing.

                “Well I’m going to go put some foot to ass. Remember. Message me when you get your pod set up.”

                “I will, and Zac?” My voice hitched as I struggled to keep the tremor out of it. “Thanks a lot. Seriously.”

                “Don’t worry about it. Maybe one day, you’ll be able to do something like this for someone else in a bad spot. You take care of yourself, and I’ll talk to you in a few days.”

                I nodded as he reached to the invisible button from my perspective that would end the call. A moment later and I was alone with my thoughts. I couldn’t believe this! This was… It was too much. We had hardly talked since high school, why was he being so generous to me now?

                Glancing at the time, I realized I needed to get to bed if I was going to make it into work tomorrow. Not going meant possibly losing my job, which meant,… Just how the hell was I going to pay all this money back?

No matter, there was nothing I could do about it now. I would just have to go to work tomorrow as usual, then maybe I could… I didn’t really know. But I had enough to pay my rent for the two months I was behind, as well as pay a few months forward. At least this gave me a little bit of time to figure things out. Maybe I could get a new pod, maybe this crazy idea of his could help me in the long term, but at least for right now, I wasn’t going to end up on the streets, at least not just yet, and I might be able to get something to eat that wasn’t the barest carbohydrate minimum.

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