December 14: "What might a modern day-AU look like to you? No BBC Sherlock, no CBS Elementary—just your own imagination. Imagine these characters in the modern day!" (from Aleine Skyfire)

A/N: What a great prompt! To my immense surprise, I've never actually thought about this before. So here goes!

It was late December, and Sherlock hadn't had a case in weeks. John was glad he'd had is phone on silent at work, as he'd missed seven texts from his friend, none of them overly specific. He sighed as he read them in the cab on the way home.

Off to purchase what we discussed. Sent at 10:34 PM.

John frowned. He couldn't remember this conversation.

Pricier than I expected. Sent at 12:08 PM.

That didn't sound promising.

Why aren't you answering? Sent at 2:45 PM.

Nvm. I checked your calendar. Forgot you worked today. Sent at 2:51 PM.

Typical Sherlock. John rolled his eyes.

Well worth the £500! Sent at 4:29 PM.

Good heavens…

Aren't you usually home by now? Sent at 5:40 PM.

At least Sherlock had some sense of time. Unfortunately, he'd had to stay late as one of the other doctors was on maternity leave and another had come down with the flu.

How late will you be? Sent at 6:11 PM.

John sighed and typed a reply. On my way. Had to cover for Dr. Jones. What did you buy?

Naturally, Sherlock did not reply. When John arrived back home, he was anxious to see what he would find. He hoped Sherlock hadn't spent his money in a completely ridiculous way. Not that it was really his business, so long as his half of the rent was paid, but still.

"Is that you, John?" Sherlock's voice called from upstairs.

"Yes," John called back, hanging up his coat, glad to be in out of the cold. "What did you buy today?" he asked as he climbed up the stairs.

"Something incredible!" came Sherlock's reply.

John sighed. He hoped it wasn't anything another chemical that could eat through Mrs. Hudson's good carpets, or something that would set the curtains on fire. That had happened enough for one year. Or one lifetime, rather.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he saw that his friend was not destroying upholstery, but rather turning in a circle, while wearing a pair of strangely bulky black goggles.

"What the hell's on your head?" John asked with a chuckle. It looked ridiculous.

Sherlock flashed a grin and took it off. "This, my friend, is an Oculus Rift."

John frowned. "That's that virtual reality thing, isn't it?" No wonder it cost so much.

Sherlock nodded.

"I didn't think you liked video games," said John.

Sherlock rolled his eyes. "John, as always, you see but you don't observe. Soon these won't just be for wealthy parents to purchase for their bored children. This is the future of criminology."

John frowned and sat down in his chair. He'd had enough standing for one day. "How do you you figure that?"

"Once the technology is perfected," said Sherlock, pacing quickly like he did when he was excited about something, "this will be able to be used to recreate crime scenes at trials. Not would the jury be able to see photos of blood and footprints and the like, they would be able to see the entire scene, as though they were there when the first detectives were. And who knows, they might actually be able to see a recreation of the crime being played out. Isn't it incredible?!"

"Sounds pretty morbid," John replied, "but I can see the advantages."

Sherlock gave a rare grin. "The future is going to be such an interesting place."

A/N: Inspired in equal parts by an article I read somewhere a couple weeks ago (no recollection of where I found it or why) about recreating crime scenes with virtual reality, and thinking of a somewhat Sherlock-ish friend of mine who was very excited to get an Oculus Rift a couple years ago.