Page 9 of Immersed
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Reality Check [NOT FOUND]
Besidehim,Jaspersnoredwith the contented rhythm of someone unbothered by shadows in the woods.
“I can’t believe I’m lying here,”Levi whispered.“I can’t believe how real this feels.”
The meteor showerhadbeen beautiful. For two hours,theyall lay on their backs in the clearing, staring toward the heavens as streaks of light tore across the sky. Levihadfoundhimself captivated, forgetting momentarily about everything except the wonder above.
“The blue ones were my favorite,” Tyler had announced with academic authority. “That’s ionized oxygen in the upper atmosphere.”
“I counted seventy-three,” Maddie had declared proudly. “Pay up, Tyler.”
Even now, Levi could feel the lingering chill of the ground against his back, the way his breathhadfoggedin the night air. He remembered the weight of Zoe’s blanket whenshe’dtossedit over him after noticing his shivering.
Jasper shifted beside him, mumbling something unintelligible in his sleep.
Levi turned away in his sleeping bag, hands rising to his temples. His fingers found only skin, no trace of the neural interface that should have been there. He ran his palms over his entire head, searching for any sign of the headset.
Nothing.
“This can’t be happening,”he murmured, panic rising in his throat like bile.“Where is it? Where’s the headset? Great customer service, Virtual Vice. ‘Lost your expensive hardware? That’s a you problem.’”
He pinched his arm hard enough to leave a mark. The pain felt tangible—sharp, immediate, lingering. He pressed his palm against the tent floor, feeling individual pebbles beneath the thin fabric. When he inhaled, the scent of woodsmoke filled his nostrils, mixed with the earthy smell of the forest and Jasper’s faint marijuana odor.
Everything felt real.
“This is impossible,”he breathed, his voice cracking.“VR doesn’t work like this. It can’t—”
But as he looked around the tent, at Jasper’s sleeping form, at his own hands in the dim light, a terrible thought began to take root. What if thiswasn’tvirtual reality? What if thiswasreal?
“No,”he said, the word cutting through his mounting hysteria.“No, that’s insane. I put on a headset. Iwasin my apartment. Iwasstreaming.”
But the memory felt distant now, like somethinghe’ddreamedrather than lived. The apartment, the ring light, the nervous energy of going live—it all seemed hazy and insubstantial compared to the vivid reality of the moment.
The tent zipper across the campsite rasped through the night. Levi’s breath caught in his throat, his entire body tensing as he strained to listen. The soundhadcomefrom somewhere near Zoe and Maddie’stent. His pulse quickened, blood rushing in his ears, drowning out Jasper’s continued snoring.
Levi lay motionless, counting his heartbeats. One, two, three—there itwasagain. The unmistakable sound of another zipper, followed by hushed voices.
He glanced at Jasper, still lost in whatever dreams occupied his mind. With shaking fingers, Levi reached for his own tent zipper, wincing at each tiny metal tooth that separated. He pulled it just enough to create a narrow opening and pressed his eye against it.
The campfirehadburneddown to glowing embers, casting everything in a dim orange light. Maddie stood outside Zoe’s tent, arms wrapped around herself against the chill. Her colorful hairwaspulledinto a messy bun, and she kept shifting her weight from foot to foot, glancing toward the tree line.
“Shit,”she whispered, checking her phone. The blue glow illuminated her worried expression.
Levi’s tent creaked as he shifted position. Maddie’s head snapped toward the sound.
“Who’s there?” she called.
Levi hesitated, then unzipped his tent further.“It’s just me. Everything okay?”
Maddie hurried over, crouching beside his tent opening.“It’s Zoe. She went to the bathroom like forty minutes ago. She’s not back.”
“Forty minutes?”Levi’s stomach clenched with sudden dread.
“I thought maybe she went for a walk or something, but she left her flashlight.”Maddie held up Zoe’s headlamp.“And it’s not like her to just wander off without saying anything.”
“Should we wake Tyler?”he suggested, his voice tight.
