I study my reflection in the mirror. Black hair, clean. Nerdy face, Washed. Clothes… Well, at least I think they're stylish. I’m wearing an open white button up shirt with a light blue undershirt and a pair of grey jeans. Something casual but still nice right? Looking back up I notice the light blush on my face. Get it together, idiot. Don’t get the wrong idea about all this.

  Yesterday morning, right after Ms. Carter’s class ended, my classmate Claire Thompson called out to me.

  “Hey Aiden, you look sharp today,” the mischievous tone in her voice made it painfully obvious she was wanting something. “Wow is that a new outfit, you sure are looking handsome today.”

  “No, this is the jacket I always wear.” Whatever it is she wants can't be good if she's trying this hard.

  “Come on, you need to play along! ‘Yes Claire, thank you for noticing you look quite lovely today yourself!’ You should say something like that.” I let out a sigh and decided to give in.

  “Alright Claire.” I clear my throat before I continue. “Whatever could I do to serve you today?”

  “Now that is more like it! Oh, I know! Next time, do it with your hand over your heart, more like a butler or something!” she exclaimed while her brown eyes almost seemed to sparkle with excitement. she jumps forward, grabbing my sore shoulder making me flinch a little. “Oops, sorry! I got a little lost in my fangirl fantasies, hehe,” she says, stepping back into her seat. “Anyway since I did help boost your confidence a little, I guess there is a little something I need help with…” she begins to twirl her long wavy hair with her finger as she continues. “I have something I need help with for tomorrow. If you don’t mind helping me out, think we could meet up for breakfast?”

  Like I said, I shouldn’t be getting excited about this. The lonely loser in me keeps trying to see this as a date or something, but come on. This is Claire we are talking about. Knowing her I bet she purposely tried to make it as ambiguous as possible just to see my reactions. well good for her I guess it's working!

  “Hey… do you think I look good at all?” I ask the picture of my mother on the table as I finish getting ready. “...Alright, I'll be heading out now.” Luckily the place we are meeting up is the cafe I usually go to, The Velvet Cup. Walking outside I can feel the sunlight on my arms. A welcome change considering how cold it usually is at this hour.

  It takes me no time at all to reach the cafe down the street. Walking up I notice the owner Boss is outside sweeping leaves. Boss, or Mr. Saunders is a larger man with a muscular build, not the type you would typically imagine running a small shop like this. He has a thick brown beard and hair covered forearms. If you were dumb enough to try and rob the place you would basically be fighting a gorilla. He is always wearing his black and velvet uniform with his sunglasses.

  “Aiden, it's been a few days! How have you been?” He raises his hand in greeting. Despite his appearance he is actually incredibly friendly.

  “I’m doing good. How's the business been going?”

  “Eh you know how it is. Around this time there always seems to be more customers. People love their hot coffee in the colder weather.”

  “Good, it would be dangerous if you got too bored.” I jokingly say.

  “Hah, be careful what you wish for. Any more and I might need to hire some punk like yourself.”

  “Ah, noted.” I laugh a little but then remember there is a reason I'm here this time. “Hey, do you mind if I grab something from behind the counter? I'll leave the cash under the tip jar.”

  “Knock yourself out kid!” His face turned into his usual smirk. This guy can't stop himself from making that creepy face whenever he makes money. I wouldn't be surprised if it actually scared off some of his customers. I head inside the glass door, taking a look at the small selection of colorful breakfast foods behind the display case to my left. I didn't really plan on taking anything but I decide to put some money under the tip jar anyway.

  “Hey, Aiden!” Turning around, I see Claire sticking her head out of one of the booths behind the corner waving her hand frantically at me. “Can you grab us a croissant while you're up there!” Alright… I guess I will be completing my transaction after all. I grab 2 pastries and turn towards Claire’s booth, but I stop in my tracks. As I turn the corner I realize there is another girl sitting at the booth with Claire, the mirror behind them catching my reflection. This girl has long wavy hair, it’s a light blonde color, actually it is almost white. She is wearing a simple green sweater with a tan brown skirt. Her eyes are a light green with an almost bored expression on her face as she pays attention to her phone. “Oh you only brought 2?” Claire asked, pulling my focus back to her smug face. “Ah, I’m sorry, did you think it would just be me and you alone today?” She added in a teasing tone. This girl I swear.

  “Not at all.” I try to say with as much confidence as I can. “I’m not hungry so these are for you both.”

  “Thank You!” Claire gleefully swipes the croissants from my hands and hands one over to her friend. “Oh right. This guy is Aiden, we share the same mythology class.” I take my seat across from them as Claire introduces me.

  “N-nice to meet you.” I add a head nod to my greeting. She smiles and does the same. Just as the girl opens her mouth to speak she gets cut off by Claire.

  “Aiden, this is my friend from my high school days. We first met when she tried joining our school’s Chess club. Isn’t she so pretty! Just make sure you don’t-”

  “Claire…” The girl sighs. “Sorry about her. She can be kind of a menace sometimes.” She reaches down to the croissant in front of her and splits it, handing me half. “I’m Luna. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Thanks.” I timidly grab my share and all 3 of us dig into our breakfast.

  “So… what exactly do you need me here for?” I ask between bites. Despite having the most, Claire finishes hers first.

  “Alright let's get to the main topic.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a tablet. “I need to interview friends for my media studies class. Your names will be anonymous so don’t worry.”

  “I have a question.” Luna says while having her hand slightly raised like a model student. “What exactly is the interview about?”

  “Well you know how fast technology keeps advancing and evolving right? So we want to ask how technology and things like the internet affect how you enjoy and view content.” Interesting. It is definitely something content creators big and small have been needing to deal with for a long time now. “Luna, Can I start with you? Do you think the increase in technology has improved the quality of media content?”

  “Hmm… I think it might be situational. Like there are some online videos that have a lot of effort and passion put into them, but on the other hand there are also a lot that feel like mindless cash grabs.” True, the amount of trash and ads that gets put on the front page of almost any website is basically unbearable… however…

  “Aiden, how do you feel?” asks Claire.

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  “Well… while I do agree to some extent, I actually think tech has mostly improved content. Sure there is a lot of bad content, but because of technology and the internet almost every person in the world is able to create and share whatever they can imagine. I think that has allowed a lot of stuff to shine.”

  “Interesting, so does that make you feel that content created by a small team is better than a large one?” Claire throws another question back at me. It’s starting to feel like she is trying to moderate a debate or something.

  “Generally I believe so. While a large team can put more polish into a project, I think it can usually balloon and lead to miscommunication and lack of focus.” The amount of large games that have been released that have promised the world only to release in a barely playable state is laughable at this point. Usually The large scale and teams that companies try to throw at them is what I feel has led to games being so, well, bad recently.

  “I think I would have to agree.” Luna added. “while I can still enjoy larger projects, when something is made by a smaller team or a single person. I think that means they have to put all of their passion into it if they want it to succeed.”

  “Good, good…” Claire scribbles everything we say on her tablet. “Moving on, Luna, what kind of online content do you consume the most?”

  “hm, well…” This one seems to have made her a little nervous. “Honestly I don't think I am online too much. I guess it is mostly just stuff I find on social media, though I really only follow my close friends. Though I do still sometimes watch movies or play some games here and there.” So she plays games too huh, I guess even the popular kids do dabble in it. Wonder what kind of stuff she plays?

  “Ooh yeah, I'm sure you have a lot you wanna ask Aiden.” Claire's face beams with excitement. “You are always playing those online games right?”

  “H-hey it's not like the only thing I do is play games… But I guess I am usually online.”

  “well, out with it. What kind of things do you do online?” Claire asks teasingly while waving her tablet up and down at me. “And you don’t have to say any of the pervy stuff.”

  “Like I would you idiot!” I snap back. “Seriously, it is mostly just videos and games I like, The Realm Of The Timeless Lands the most. And nothing pervy!” It feels like this girl has to make a jab any chance she can get. I turn to Luna but she is just trying to hold in her laughter. I thought she perked up but I guess I just imagined it.

  “Oh, sorry, it is just really nice to see how close you guys are,” Luna says after calming herself down. Do we really seem that close? Maybe I am acting too friendly with Claire and making her grossed out, and that is why she teases me so much? I was the one that was thinking she wanted something like a date today. Claire however clears her throat and moves on.

  “Alright on to the next question. Aiden do you feel that the advancement of tech and media has begun to blur the lines between reality and fiction?”

  “I think it can feel that way at first, but the more you experience-” At first I want to disagree. Reality is reality. Fiction is fiction. One is real and the other is not. But recently I feel like things haven't been that simple for me. Since I first started using full dive VR and playing TROTL I feel like I have enjoyed it way more than my real life. I still knew none of it was real, but now there is everything that happened with Excalibur so far. It was my real body that stabbed me after all, somehow blurring that line between real and fiction.

  “Aiden?” Crap, I got a little lost in thought there.

  “S-sorry. A lot’s been going on lately. I'm not sure honestly.” Come on idiot, you must look like a weirdo now.

  “It’s alright, I guess these questions get a little complicated.” Claire nodded as she begins to get up and stretch. “I'm gonna go freshen up a little, Luna do you want to come with?”

  “N-no I'll be okay.” Uh oh, I'm not as extroverted as Claire. This might go bad quickly.

  “Okay, suit yourself. I won't be too long.” Claire turns and heads down the hall for the restrooms. Leaving me alone with a girl I don't know, this might be the meanest thing Claire has done to me!

  “Um, hey… so what was that game you said you play?” Luna timidly asks.

  “Oh… I-it's called Realm Of The Timeless Lands…” I lower my head as I explain. “but a lot of people shorten it to just TROTL. It's actually a VRMMO and-” Hold on there. I should probably stop myself before I nerd out and over explain.

  “No way!” Looking up I’m surprised by how relieved she looks. “I started playing that game a couple months ago. It’s been a lot of fun!”

  “Really? Can I ask what class you play as?”

  “Well, when I was younger I practiced martial arts. So when I started the game I thought playing a brawler would be easiest for me. As I kept playing I found people didn’t really like brawlers for DPS, so I made my secondary class enchanter to help.” Huh, I guess StarDrifter is the same as her then. “What about yourself?”

  “I’m a h- I mean a thief and knight.” Oops, I almost said hero. Hold on, why do I even need to keep that a secret? “...I liked the movement that thief has but wanted something with a bigger punch for my secondary.”

  “That’s funny, I met someone in game with that class not too long ago, well kind of.”

  “They swapped to something else?”

  “No, it’s something like… they gained a power up or something, I guess?” Luna scratches her chin questioning herself. A powerup? The only thing that is coming to my mind is, wait… surely it’s not what I’m thinking. There are too many coincidences piling up.

  “W-wait a second… Is your username StarDrifter?” Silence. Luna stiffens while slowly her face grows more and more red before she hides behind her hands with a groan.

  “D-don’t go saying it outloud! It’s embarrassing!” Star, I mean, Luna cries. “How would you ev-” she pauses mid sentence, slowly she lowers her arms and looks up at me. I think she might have connected the dots.

  “I, I am actually Echo_of_Amber…” I say with my voice trailing off towards the end. God she’s right this is embarrassing. “I guess it’s good to meet you in real life too?” I didn’t mean for it to sound so unsure, but seeing how nervous I am seems to ease her a little as she starts to laugh softly.

  “Ha, yeah it’s good to meet you too Aiden.” She reaches her hand out across the table offering a handshake. I nod and give her the best firm handshake I can. Huh, I thought if she did martial arts her hand would be rougher but it's actually pretty soft. Hold on your being a creep! Let go already! “Seriously talk about small world. But hey, I’m actually glad I have someone to talk about that game now!”

  “Really?” I awkwardly retract my hand bringing it to my right shoulder.

  “Yeah, I don't really have any friends or family that are too into gaming, so I doubt any of them would want to hear it.” You can say that again. I can easily remember all the times when I was little and I would overshare on whatever new game I was fanboying over. My dad would try to listen as best he could but I know he couldn’t understand at all. In grade school I would often tell stories about the things I saw or achieved in the games I loved. I wanted someone that I could talk to and have fun with. It really wasn’t till high school I found a group and made friends with Tristan. Well, seeing how well that friendship ended up, I think I know how this meeting will go now. “Hey, is your shoulder alright?” Her question feels like a wake-up call. I realize I’ve been silently rubbing my shoulder this whole time now.

  “Oh! Yeah, it’s nothing. It has just been pretty sore since yesterday morning.” I must have really slept on it weird or something. It was actually the morning after we beat that hacker. I felt exhausted and crashed, next thing I know my shoulder has been bugging me since.

  “Hah, isn't that where that hacker hit you? Guess it hurt so much you got hurt for real too.” Luna says jokingly.

  “Yeah I gue-” I start to respond, but a sudden realization stops me in my tracks. She is absolutely right. My shoulder only started hurting after getting kicked by Dead-F4 in TROTL. He also started acting weird at the end of the fight, almost like he got hurt too. You could chalk that up to coincidence, however my chest was also hurting after I woke up from getting stabbed by Excalibur. Both times I felt drained of energy and had pain after. I… I think Excalibur is somehow making every attack hurt in real life.

  I start to feel dizzy. It feels like the whole world is tilting and shifting before my eyes as everything clicks in my head. It’s almost like everything is slowly turning to mush. My thoughts begin to feel like a tangled mess as my brain keeps thinking of new questions. How, When, Who, Why. What… What if I can die using Excalibur? Worse… What about someone else? When I was fighting Dead-F4 I purposely aimed for his neck. Could I end up accidentally killing someone else? The thought alone makes me so nauseous I cover my mouth. My whole body feels wrong.

  “Hey… you’re looking kind of pale. Are you alright?” Star asks gently.

  “That sword… Ex-” I slowly try to look up at her again, But my gaze goes past her. I see the mirror behind her, I see my reflection behind her. That same face that I saw before I got stabbed. I can't hold it back much longer. I jump up from my seat at the booth as fast as I can “Sorry!” I choke out into my hand. Running past a startled Claire in the hall I rush into the bathroom stall and let out all the vomit I held back.