(Val Wolfwood)

He sat in the boardroom and signed the paperwork to take control of the company. With a sad sigh, he looked over at Mr. Creg. Old Martan had dropped this mess in his lap. “I would like to look over the files, but for now, let’s begin the next phase. I will personally be overseeing the hospital myself. As far as the reporter goes, you handle her. I want everything taken care of. You do understand me?” Val looked into Mr. Crag’s eyes as the lawyer nodded.

“Yes sir.” Mr. Crag said as he left with the paperwork that made Val the new president of Devcat. He started opening the files and looking over everything. Subject 02 held his interest and he poured over her file. The relationship between her and Dr. Winters was interesting. According to this Dr. Winters came to Martan and offered this idea in the hopes that it would let her mother live a normal life. All this was because a daughter wanted to talk to her mother. He smiled sadly as he kept reading. Dr. Winters had been raised by her father after her mother’s accident and visited the hospital only once. Martan had done a thorough search on everyone. The man was a dreamer, but not a fool. Dr. Winters was now an alpha tester and had started working at a local hospital. It wouldn’t be the one he would be handling and he was grateful of that.

A knock at the door drew his eye and he took a deep breath. “Come in.” He said coldly. The door opened and Dr. Rose walked in. The woman looked like she had been crying, but managed to stay professional. Martan had invested a great deal in good people and vetted each one himself. For that Val was grateful. “Sir The package you requested is loaded into your car. I have been informed you will be personally overseeing this step. Should you need help, me and my team are here.” She said with a bow.

“Thank you. I will be leaving shortly.” Val said as he closed the tablet he had been reading and left for his car. A chauffeur would take him to the hospital and give him a chance to read more. He smiled as he read about the blossoming relationship between Dr. Winters and 01. He would have to meet Mr. Edwards someday soon, but right now he had other things to do. Maybe 01 could be used in the next phase. Sliding open the next folder, he read up on phase four. Across the country twenty candidates would be moved from long term care facilities to Tir nAill. The next phase would use coma patents and a few chosen candidates as alpha testers. This new tech would be amazing and had applications in nearly every field of science.

The car pulled up and a orderly opened the door for Val. The director of the hospital met Val and smiled at him. She seemed like a kind hearted person who had been though a lot. “Mr. Wolfwood, I have been informed about everything and have set up the requested area.” She said with a smile. Leading him through the halls she talked endlessly about the building he knew so much about. She led him into a nicely furnished room with a soft bed set up. The needed equipment was in place and ready. Tonight, would be the first run and he hoped it would go well. The crate of equipment was being pushed behind them.

“Thank you Miss. Greenwich. Please handle the rest.” He said knowing he would have to wait three hours to happen. It would be a struggle, but would give him time to look over the other files. She bowed and left the room. After Covid, a lot of people started bowing to avoid handshakes or germs. Val didn’t blame them and secretly was happy about it as it let him avoid touching people. He turned on a movie to act as background noise and went back to reading.

(Keven Jhonson)

Across the hospital in a room full of small children, most of which were bald, sat Keven. He had been born with a heart defect and wouldn't have a long happy life, but tried his best to make the others happy. One of the nerves rolled in a large package on a dolly. Would this be another celebrity dressed as a superhero? He liked those days, but the actors couldn't keep the sadness out of their eyes when they talked. He wished he could be a real hero, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“Children. We have a new surprise for you.” She said and actually looked happy. They gathered around and she opened the crate to show them strange helmets that had weird glass screens for their eyes. Was this VR? VR made him tired as moving took energy he didn’t have. “This is a new game that you play in your sleep. We will be testing it tonight.” She said with a smile.” He tilted his head as he looked at it, not sure what she was talking about.

{ZeroGiven40}

I hope this bait and switch wasn't too jarring. The bonus story will be a little happier. This needs a proofreading pass so don't expect it to be perfect. lol. What would you do if you were in a coma and had the chance to live a life in a game?