Chapter 2: A Healthy Dose of Escapism

Meanwhile…

Smith's Diner, American Northwest…

Carly Smith…

Finally, quitting time was upon us. I hung my hat on the hook along with my apron and breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Finally," I said to myself before going to leave and possibly hop onto DWO. However, before I could. "Carly, we need to talk," said the voice of my mother coming from the office just to my right.

Goddammit… I entered the office out back where my parents were both waiting for me. Dad's office was always a mess. No part of the wall was free of any pictures of family members and his days as a high school football player. Papers and filing cabinets lined each wall filled with all sorts of paperwork. You could probably spend decades reading all of it. However, it was the paper in his hands that was of most concern.

It was the Snowboarding competition flier I had earlier. I checked the pocket of my hoodie and sure enough the flier wasn't there. A wave to disappointment and dread washed over me as I immediately realized what the topic of this discussion was going to be. "Dad, please I-" I began but dad simply raised one finger and silenced me immediately.

"Carly, we talked about this," he said.

"Dad I've saved up my vacation days, this could be my chance to-" I tried to argue but was once again cut off.

"Carly, when are you going to grow up and give up on this snowboarding thing?" he asked me.

Mom came over to me and put her hands on my shoulders. "Carly, I know you love snowboarding, but you can't just gamble with your future like this," she told me. "It's just not realistic."

This had to be the ten thousandth time I'd had this conversation with them. I honestly wish they'd just give it a rest already. "I can make it in the sport, I know I can!" I said. "Dad please, at least let me try!" I pleaded with him.

Dad sighed before pressing his glasses back in place with his pointer finger. "Carly… I get it," he began. "When I was your age, all I wanted to do with my life was play football, I was good too, took my team to back to back state championships," he explained, a nostalgic gleam in his eye as he no doubt recalled those Friday nights on the gridiron. "But one day… I was forced to accept that only some people get to make careers out of the things they love… and others need to accept their lot in life," he said.

"Carly… the day I had to hang up my pads for good was one of the hardest days of my life… but being an adult… you sometimes have to choose between what you want… and what's practical," dad told me.

"I am not wasting my life in this diner, dad!" I objected.

However dad just chuckled and shook his head. "I said those exact same words to my dad when he had this same conversation with me," he said. "But… all it takes is one bad fall and everything changes," he said. I looked to his walking cane that sat leaned on the wall next to him, knowing exactly where this was going. "The day I took that hit and broke my leg… I was forced to give up my dreams and do what was right by me and my family," he explained.

"At least you tried," I said. "Maybe it will be different for me?"

"That's what they all say, Carly, until it actually happens to them," Dad said, "Sometimes Carly, it's better to give up your dreams before fate makes you give them up,"

"Carly, we just don't want to see you get hurt," said mom. As if I actually bought that. This was about the diner, it was always about the goddamn diner.

My parents had been trying to get me to give up my dreams since I started high school. Being a pro snowboarder didn't line up with the plans they had for me since the day I was born. "You just want me to agree to inherit this place, that's what this is about," I said.

"Carly, don't be childish," dad said. "This is about you, it's always been about you," he corrected me. "I want my daughter to have stability in her life, and you're not going to get that on a ski slope," he told me. "It comes from good, honest work."

I don't know why, but something about the way he said that cut me pretty deep. As if all the hard work and effort I put into snowboarding meant absolutely nothing. It was infuriating, downright offensive to have my passion demeaned like that! I quickly snatched the competition flier from his hand. "No! I am not wasting my life in this goddamn trash heap!" I snapped.

"CARLY!" Mom gasped.

I saw the anger build in my dad's eyes. I cut him pretty deep with that last statement. "My great great grandfather built this "trash heap" with his own two hands!" Dad snapped. "Almost a century of family tradition doesn't stop just because one young woman can't get her goddamn head out of the clouds!" he yelled.

"It's better than letting other people decide my life for me!" I snapped. "God, it's like I'm on mute or something, because every time I try to explain this to you, it just goes in one ear and right out the other!" I continued to rant. "I don't want to waste my life doing what other people want me to do, I want to have some control over my own life!" I said.

"Life isn't like that, Carly," dad snarled. "You need to grow up and accept that not everything in life is a choice!" he lectured me. "Let me make this very plain… you're going to run this diner, you're going to set aside this childish dream of yours, and you're not going to give me any more lip about it!"

I felt anger building inside of me, as if the dam that had been holding it back suddenly exploded under the building pressure of my rage. "F**k you!" I cursed. "I spent my entire adolescence hearing you two decide my life for me as if I'm not even your daughter, just your replacement when you finally get as sick of this place as I am!" I snapped.

"That's not true!" Mom said. "We love you Carly, we jus-" mom tried to explain but I wasn't having it.

"No! If you loved me you'd let me find my own path instead of forcing me onto the one you want me to be on!" I snapped. "I'm eighteen years old! I can make my own goddamn decisions! And I'm choosing to leave this place behind me and actually make something out of myself!" I yelled before turning to leave.

"Don't you turn your back on me, young lady!" Dad yelled. But I just kept walking. I was so done with this! It's my life, I should get at least some say in it! "CARLY!" Dad practically screamed at me from his office but I paid it no heed.

I just kept walking. I wasn't backing down this time, I wasn't going to apologize and let them have their way like so many times before. I'm so sick of them acting like I have to run this stupid diner like it was my destiny or something! I had a younger sister, make her run the place!

"Carly! You get back here right now young lady!" I heard my mom call to me. But I didn't care. I am an adult now, I should be able to make my own decisions! The worst they could do to me is fire me and I knew they wouldn't. Not when they were so insistent that I run this place for the rest of my life.

I immediately went upstairs to our apartment and made a b-line for my room. I needed to blow off some steam and right now, DWO sounded really good right now. Before getting the game ready I propped a chair against my door so dad couldn't follow me in to scream my ear off about how I shouldn't disrespect him or some other dumb nonsense!

I then looked at the snowboard propped against the wall. A black Burton snowboard with pink bindings I had bought for myself when I was in high school. I ran my finger along its length. My dreams weren't childish. It was what I wanted to do with my life, something I was actually passionate about. Maybe someday I'd finally get mom and dad to accept that and stop trying to force this diner on me?

But that day wasn't today, if it were ever to even come. So I took my headset from its place and put it on my head. With an annoyed sigh I plopped myself on my bed and said the command to begin a plunge into some much needed escapism.

"SyncroGear, start Digimon World Online."

Meanwhile…

Northeastern United States…

Jack Tidwell…

I entered silently into my home. My mind having calmed down a bit from today's events since my walk home had begun. That was usually how it went, I'd worry about something for a while and then it'd eventually vanish with time.

'Time heals all wounds', as the old saying goes.

Although the silence certainly didn't help. Silence lets the mind wander to places I'd rather it didn't go. Mom didn't usually come home from work until an hour or two after I came home. I just wanted to put what happened behind me and move on with the rest of my day. But I couldn't bring myself to retreat into my room, choosing instead to just plop myself on the couch and sit in silence.

I could have played with my phone, but the temptation to check on YouTube to see if Brad had posted his prank was a very real concern. God, why did I just go along with helping Brad's stupid friend like that? I knew who Brad was and I knew he was gonna try to pull something like that.

And just like that, I was spiraling again. So I did what mom had suggested to me once and took some deep breaths and mentally counted to ten. It worked like it usually did. To the point where I wasn't spiraling anymore.

"Hey honey!"

I was ripped from my thoughts by mom's greeting as she entered the room. It seemed I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I failed to notice I had spent the hours between me coming home and mom arriving home from work. How did I even lose track of that much time? Man, this must be getting to me really badly.

However, there was another thing I failed to notice. "Jack? You okay?" she asked me. I wasn't sure what the tell was, if I just had that kind of look on my face or that I had failed to return her greeting, either way she noticed something was wrong.

"It's… it's nothing," I lied. I really didn't want to talk about it.

But I should know better. "Jack, I can tell by the look on your face it isn't nothing," she said. "Moms know these things, now tell me what's wrong," she added as she sat next to me on the couch.

I hated when she got like this. Backing me against a wall with no hopes of escape. So, knowing resistance was futile, I told her everything that had happened today. About Brad, the prank, my impending internet humiliation, all of it.

Mom wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulder. "Jack, honey, I love you but sometimes you make things out to be a lot worse in your head than they actually are in the real world," she told me. "All that happened was you tried to do something nice and Brad took advantage of you, there's no shame in that, not on your part at least," she explained.

"But I knew who Brad was, that he ran that damn prank channel, I should have seen it coming," I said.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean you should beat yourself up over it, we all make mistakes sometimes, it's just part of life," she told me. "Like I said before, you were just trying to do something nice for someone," she added.

"I don't think I can keep that promise, mom," I then confessed to her. "After what happened, I doubt anyone's gonna want to talk to me," I explained.

"Now you're just being melodramatic," Mom said. "Sweetie, I doubt anyone's gonna remember Brad's stupid prank by next week," she told me.

"He's gonna put it on YouTube," I pointed out.

"No one watches prank videos anymore," Mom replied. "They were old hat even back when you and Brad were babies."

I knew she was probably right. I mean, I made that same point to myself earlier. But still, the possibility that it might blow up still kept me from feeling one hundred percent okay.

"Listen, you'll be okay," mom reassured me. "You're a smart and kind young man, you'll recover," she added. "Now, is there anything else that happened today?" she then asked me, probably sensing how much I wanted to change the subject.

I fished for other topics to discuss, and eventually landed on the only one that came to mind. "Digimon World Online is apparently going free to play today," I said. I had no clue why I decided on that for a subject of conversation. Mom wasn't exactly the gamer type. But, as I stated earlier, it was kind of slim pickings right now.

"I've heard of that, it's that really popular VRMMO, right?" she asked.

I nodded. "Are you thinking of trying it out?" she then asked me.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Could be a good way to meet people," mom suggested.

"Aren't MMO's what people usually use to avoid meeting people?" I questioned.

"Not necessarily," she answered. "I knew a girl in school who met her future husband in an MMO," she recalled.

"I don't know if I'm quite looking for that kind of relationship," I said, failing to stifle a laugh.

"I know," she said with a chuckle of her own. "But, I think it would still be good for you to try it," she then began. "Some studies have suggested that VRMMOs are great tools for helping overcome social anxiety," she added.

I'd need a citation for that one, mom. But… maybe she had a point? I mean, making friends in person failed spectacularly today, maybe trying my luck in cyberspace would yield better results? It was better than my plan, just curling up in a ball and hoping things fixed themselves.

Mom then kissed me on my forehead, "I've got to go change out of my work clothes and eventually start supper now, promise me you'll at least consider it?" she asked me.

I nodded, "Okay, mom," I said before we both went off to do our own things. I have a lot to think about.

Later...

Time passed, and like mom had asked I considered trying DWO. But it was after dinner that I was ultimately faced with the decision if I wanted to go through with it or not. I sat alone in my dark room just staring at my headset which sat in my hands. I had already downloaded the game itself just after mom and I had our talk so I wouldn't "forget". All that was left was to put on the headset and launch it.

The Icarus VR Headset… after the year or two since I'd received it I still couldn't believe I had such an advanced piece of tech. It was a Birthday gift from my grandparents. I do not know how the hell they managed to afford it but I didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

These things were the absolute most immersive way to play video games, bar none. They actually temporarily immobilized your body so you could seamlessly use your own brain to control your character as if it were your own body without worrying about tripping over stuff like the old headsets used to. Pretty much everyone had at least a version of the SyncroGear headset although most didn't really use them for video games like I did. Some simply used them for VR Vacationing and chat roo-

What am I doing? Was I seriously going over the history of the SyncroGear just to delay actually having to put on the damn thing? God, I really am hopeless! Sure, it would be easy to just say no and waste another evening playing more single player VRRPGS. After all, this was a really lame way to try to make friends. But yet… What if mom was right? What if it worked? What if I, god forbid, actually made a friend in the game? Would that really be so bad?

What am I so afraid of? These people will be an entire world away from me. They can't hurt me… not physically at least. I kept thinking of what mom said, the promise I made to at least try to put myself out there. If I don't take this first step, literally the easiest form of human interaction I could find, what hope do I have in the real world? Besides, even if I fail I can at least take my mind off Brad's stupid prank for an hour or two. A healthy little dose of escapism would do me some good.

I have to try… I need to try. If anything just to get my foot in the door. I timidly put the helmet over my head. The foam padding inside lightly squeezing against my face, tight and snug.

I laid myself in my bed, took a deep breath, and uttered the words needed to start the game.

"SyncroGear, start Digimon World Online."

A/N: A shorter chapter with a little more focus on building the characters as well as the technology and a little bit of the history behind the SyncroGear headset itself.

What do you mean it's just the NervGear from SAO with a slightly different name? WHO TOLD YOU?! Was It Little Jimmy?! He's always tattling on me! I swear, when I find him I-

Ahem… uh… but seriously though, I kinda felt like the NervGear was such an obvious and basic evolution of modern virtual reality technology that it wouldn't really matter all that much and the energies required to come up with something else were better spent on more important aspects of the setting and story.