into an avatar shop.
Renee
finds Patrick in an aisle of canine avatars. “Wait,”
Renee says. Patrick ducks around the corner to the next aisle, filled
with anthropomorphic reptiles. He stops running. “I'm sorry.”
Patrick walks down the aisle, ignoring her. “What are you
doing?”
“ I'm
looking for a new avatar.”
“ Why,”
Renee asks.
“ I
don't want to be a boy anymore,” Patrick replies. “What
about this wolf?”
“ I
don't know, it looks pretty fierce,” Renee says quietly.
“ I
can be fierce,” Patrick says coldly. A salesman approaches.
He's a fast-talker.
“ If
you want fierce, then you'd love the new Lycan-tek! They're designed
by Trajan himself, very detailed! Only 600 credits.”
“ No
thanks,” Patrick says, “I'm not spending 600 credits.”
“ And
you'll feel the luxury of every single credit,” the salesman
replies without missing a beat, “you get what you pay for after
all. Plus, the latest designs offer much greater,” he nudges
Renee, “sensitivity.”
“ Screw
off, ya creep,” Renee shoves him. Her hands go right through
the hologram. “Whatever happened to spam filters?” Renee
turns to Patrick, he stares at an avatar, not wanting to look at her.
“So, are we...okay?”
Patrick
doesn't respond, stares straight ahead. She doesn't want to repeat
the question. He still says nothing and stands perfectly still. Then
Renee notices that the store is very quiet. She steps out of the
aisle and finds that everyone has frozen in place. Renee gasps then
looks back to Patrick. He's frozen in place too. “Am I dead?”
she thinks, “Am I having a stroke? Is this a Xenon Shock? What
the hell!?”
She
pushes on Patrick, “Wake up!” He moves rigidly like a
mannequin. She pushes him harder and he falls down. “What the
hell is going on?”
The
Hologram salesman scrolls down the aisle to Patrick and tries to
up-sell him on more content. Renee runs from the store and finds a
Televator on the street. She gets in, closes the door, but is not
greeted by a televator voice.
“ Home!”
Nothing
happens. It's dead. Renee walks down the street, amongst the frozen
avatars, finding all televators are dead.
It's
eerily quiet.
Then
a thunderous crash echoes through the urban corridor. A giant
creature, a behemoth, comes into view. It's a sixty-foot-tall
humanoid figure with elephant-like skin. It comes down the street,
smashing people like they're ants. Renee backs away, stunned. The
behemoth spots her, the only person that can move, and starts running
for her, bowling over dozens of people. Renee retreats into the
avatar store. Renee finds Patrick on the floor. “Patrick! Come
on Patrick, wake up!” She shakes him but he doesn't move. The
behemoth crashes through the front of the store, spraying glass
everywhere. It's much too tall to enter, and so it lays down,
crawling and reaching into the store, knocking over shelves, bashing
people out of the way.
“ Patrick,”
she says one last time as the giant hand swipes at her. She leaves
him, sprinting out the back of the store.
Renee
walks under the searing sun through the cobweb of suburbs branching
out from the city. Frozen families stand like statues in their yards.
Renee rubs her sunburned neck and looks up suspiciously at the
blazing star in the sky. It seems to have been overhead for hours,
maybe it's frozen too. But it also seems brighter, turned up. Renee
spots the glass observation dome coming up, she's nearly home. She
finds Medved, frozen mid-stride in the yard. She hugs her frozen
teddy bear. No response.
Renee
sits down in the neatly trimmed grass, defeated. She looks around at
her frozen world.
Will
it stay like this forever?
“ I
think I got something in my eye,” Medved says. Looking around,
Renee discovers the people have all unfrozen. However they haven't
blinked in hours, their eyes are totally dry. “Was I asleep?”
Medved asks.
“ You
were frozen in place, everyone was!”
“ Like
we were
Renee
finds Patrick in an aisle of canine avatars. “Wait,”
Renee says. Patrick ducks around the corner to the next aisle, filled
with anthropomorphic reptiles. He stops running. “I'm sorry.”
Patrick walks down the aisle, ignoring her. “What are you
doing?”
“ I'm
looking for a new avatar.”
“ Why,”
Renee asks.
“ I
don't want to be a boy anymore,” Patrick replies. “What
about this wolf?”
“ I
don't know, it looks pretty fierce,” Renee says quietly.
“ I
can be fierce,” Patrick says coldly. A salesman approaches.
He's a fast-talker.
“ If
you want fierce, then you'd love the new Lycan-tek! They're designed
by Trajan himself, very detailed! Only 600 credits.”
“ No
thanks,” Patrick says, “I'm not spending 600 credits.”
“ And
you'll feel the luxury of every single credit,” the salesman
replies without missing a beat, “you get what you pay for after
all. Plus, the latest designs offer much greater,” he nudges
Renee, “sensitivity.”
“ Screw
off, ya creep,” Renee shoves him. Her hands go right through
the hologram. “Whatever happened to spam filters?” Renee
turns to Patrick, he stares at an avatar, not wanting to look at her.
“So, are we...okay?”
Patrick
doesn't respond, stares straight ahead. She doesn't want to repeat
the question. He still says nothing and stands perfectly still. Then
Renee notices that the store is very quiet. She steps out of the
aisle and finds that everyone has frozen in place. Renee gasps then
looks back to Patrick. He's frozen in place too. “Am I dead?”
she thinks, “Am I having a stroke? Is this a Xenon Shock? What
the hell!?”
She
pushes on Patrick, “Wake up!” He moves rigidly like a
mannequin. She pushes him harder and he falls down. “What the
hell is going on?”
The
Hologram salesman scrolls down the aisle to Patrick and tries to
up-sell him on more content. Renee runs from the store and finds a
Televator on the street. She gets in, closes the door, but is not
greeted by a televator voice.
“ Home!”
Nothing
happens. It's dead. Renee walks down the street, amongst the frozen
avatars, finding all televators are dead.
It's
eerily quiet.
Then
a thunderous crash echoes through the urban corridor. A giant
creature, a behemoth, comes into view. It's a sixty-foot-tall
humanoid figure with elephant-like skin. It comes down the street,
smashing people like they're ants. Renee backs away, stunned. The
behemoth spots her, the only person that can move, and starts running
for her, bowling over dozens of people. Renee retreats into the
avatar store. Renee finds Patrick on the floor. “Patrick! Come
on Patrick, wake up!” She shakes him but he doesn't move. The
behemoth crashes through the front of the store, spraying glass
everywhere. It's much too tall to enter, and so it lays down,
crawling and reaching into the store, knocking over shelves, bashing
people out of the way.
“ Patrick,”
she says one last time as the giant hand swipes at her. She leaves
him, sprinting out the back of the store.
Renee
walks under the searing sun through the cobweb of suburbs branching
out from the city. Frozen families stand like statues in their yards.
Renee rubs her sunburned neck and looks up suspiciously at the
blazing star in the sky. It seems to have been overhead for hours,
maybe it's frozen too. But it also seems brighter, turned up. Renee
spots the glass observation dome coming up, she's nearly home. She
finds Medved, frozen mid-stride in the yard. She hugs her frozen
teddy bear. No response.
Renee
sits down in the neatly trimmed grass, defeated. She looks around at
her frozen world.
Will
it stay like this forever?
“ I
think I got something in my eye,” Medved says. Looking around,
Renee discovers the people have all unfrozen. However they haven't
blinked in hours, their eyes are totally dry. “Was I asleep?”
Medved asks.
“ You
were frozen in place, everyone was!”
“ Like
we were
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