Setting: WASHINGTON, D.C.

Date: February 15th, 2026. (12 Hours Since The Launch)

     It was not unusual for the President to work late in the oval office. When contacting leaders around the world, sometimes you had to work late to accommodate time zones and when there were emergencies, sleep often took a back seat. Edgar was currently speaking to a leader in south east Asia, who as twelve hours ahead of him, so he was catching that president in the morning as he was starting his day. They were discussing the terms of trade deals, and airing some problems they both had with it. The conversation seemed to be going well despite the fact that Edgar had a translator in the room walking him through the conversation. Yet the conversation was quickly interrupted as both doors leading into his office opened at the same time. Vic, his chief of staff, and the head of the secret service walked into the oval office at the same time.

     "Mr. President, we have a situation." They both called out at the same time.

     "Okay," Edgar said as he turned to the translator. "Mr. President, I am going to have to call you back, there's a pressing issue that needs my immediate attention."

     "Of course, Mr. President," the translator replied, "I look forward to resuming our negotiations at a later time."

     Edgar put down the phone. "Alright gentlemen, what seems to be the problem that I had to tell a foreign leader that I'd call him back?"

     Both men stood there for a moment, unsure who was to go first.

     "Jesus," the President said, as he pointed to the Secret Service Head, "Is this a security issue or a lockdown?"

     "No sir," the man replied, "But there appears to be an issue regarding your son."

     "What's wrong?" Edgar asked.

     "The first lady has been trying to get him to log out of his video game," The agent replied. "He's hasn't responded."

     "Oh my gaud," The Chief of Staff replied, "What game is he playing?"

     "He's logged into that virtual game," The agent replied, "But he hasn't logged out in over twelve hours."

     "He's been in there half a day?" Edgar said, standing up from his chair.

     "Mr. President," The Chief of Staff said, "We have a situation in California."

     "Unless it's an earthquake, California can wait." Edgar replied, "I need to deal with this situation with my son."

     "It's the same issue!" Vic said, grabbing his arm. "This game is the problem."

     "What did you say?" Edgar asked.

     "Your son is a part of the problem I'm here to speak about," Vic answered, "Reports are flooding in from all over the country about people not logging out of this game. Tens of thousands of people have been calling 9-1-1 about it since mid-afternoon."

     "What the hell is going on, Vic?" Edgar demanded.

      "I contacted the FBI and Homeland about the game about an hour ago," Vic said, "According to reports so far, not a single player has logged out since the new expansion launched at twelve noon."

     "No one?" Edgar repeated, "How many people are logged in right now?"

     "At least ten million world wide," Vic answered, "And we can't get any of them out."

     "Is this a bug in the new software?" Edgar inquired, "Or is this the work of a hacker?"

     "They have no idea," Vic said, "They're looking into all possibilities but are unsure what is going on."

     "Why don't we just pull the plug?" Edgar asked, "Manually log them out?"

     "We can't do that!" Vic said, looking rather upset about it. "Someone in Pennsylvania tried to do that earlier today, and it went horrible wrong. A mother got upset and unplugged his equipment cause she thought he was ignoring her requests. He was pronounced dead at the hospital an hour later."

     "Oh my god," Edgar said, looking back at the secret service head, "Contact the agents watching my son, instruct them to not mess with his set up, now!"

     The head of the secret service was already on his cell phone, speaking to the agent. "Yes, that's what I said! No one touches the first kid or tampers with the equipment. We suspect that doing so might harm the child. I'm not kidding. No one tampers with he machine, not even the first lady. That's an order from the President and from me. Leave the boy logged in until further notice."

     "What is the company doing to stop this?" Edgar asked his chief.

     "I'm sorry, Sir?" Vic replied, unsure what he meant.

     "What's to stop more people from logging in and getting stuck?" The president explained, "If there's something wrong with this game... we should stop more people from logging in, shouldn't we?"

     "That's not going to happen, Mr. President." Vic said, "When the game launched it's new expansion at noon, it not only locked in all it's players, but it locked out any more people from logging in. No one else has been able to log in since that happened."

     "That doesn't sound good," Edgar responded, "That feels like a hacker more than it does a bug in the new software, doesn't it?"

     "I was thinking the same thing," Vic replied, "That doesn't bode well for us, especially considering that we have millions Americans logged in right now. This could very well be an act of cyber terrorism."

     It was at this moment that Edgar's wife, the first lady, came storming into the oval office and she looked angry and ready to chop someone's head off.

     "Edgar!" she called out, "You are needed in the residence right now because..."

     Edgar responded by grabbing something from his desk and hurling it at the fireplace at the other end of the room, which startled everyone present.

     "Everybody shut the fuck up!" Edgar called out.

     There was a brief pause, as the three people looking at him obeyed and waited for him to speak. Edgar took a deep breath and turned to Vic.

     "Vic, I want the joint chiefs in the situation room in two hours." He started, "I also want the FBI and the CIA contacted. I want their best people in the field all over this as soon as humanly possible. No one goes home tonight!"

     "Yes, Mr. President." Vic said, and he was about to leave the room when Edgar grabbed his collar and stopped him.

     "One more thing, Vic." Edgar said, "Move the country to Defcon four."

     Vic stood there, unable to speak as he couldn't believe what he just heard.

     "Sir?" he finally spit out, looking for confirmation.

     "Set the country at Defcon four," Edgar repeated, "If this is a cyber attack, I was the country on alert! Contact someone and get it done!"

     "Yes, Mr. President." Vic said before leaving the oval.

     "I want a medical team in the residence," he called out to the secret service head, "Twenty-four hour watch, full security detail until he's safely logged out. Is that understood?"

     "Yes, Mr. President." The Service head said before bolting from the oval office himself, which left the President in the room with his wife.

     "Edgar," she quietly asked him, "What the hell is going on?"

     "We might be under attack," He informed her, "Philip isn't ignoring you, he's one of millions of users who are trapped in the game. No one has been able to log out since twelve noon. We think it might be a glitch in the new software, but at the moment we can't rule out a cyber attack."

     "What?" his wife asked, trying hard to process the information.

     "This is a situation going on around the world," Edgar continued, "And we can't unplug him, some mother in Philly tried and her son died as a result."

     "He could die?" his wife said, as she put her hand to her mouth.

     Edgar walked over and hugged his wife. "We are going to contact the people who make this game and try to get everyone out. As long as he stays logged in, he should be fine until we can figure this out."

     "What about food?" She asked him, "Or water?"

     Edgar looked back at her with a look you usually see a deer would have when the headlights come upon him. Rather than answer her he walked out of the office and through the door into Vic's office.

     "Vic," Edgar called out as he waked in, "How long can a human being go without water and food before dying?"

     "That doesn't matter, Sir." Vic replied, "The medical staff can feed and hydrate your son with IVs and feeding tubes until the matter is resolved."

     "That's nice," Edgar replied, "But what about the single blokes out there that have no one take care of them? Who's going to save them from dying out in two or three days?"

     Vic looked up at the President, as he was beginning to finally grasp the severity of the situation. "I'll speak to someone about it and get some options."

     "You better," Edgar said, "And get in contact with the person who made this game. If there's anyone who can get us out of this, it's probably him."

     "Yes, Mr. President." Vic said.

     "Situation room, two hours." Edgar reminded him, "I'll be right back."

     "Where are you going, Sir?" Vic asked.

     "I'm going to check on Philip," Edgar answered, "See what's going on with my own eyes."