Feel The Game

Feel The Game

I couldn't sleep that night.

With the Dream Device awaiting for me over the nightstand, and the avalanche of ideas filling my mind, sleep was utterly postponed. Following Ada's advice, I didn't tried to use the gadget again, but the billions – if not trillions – of possibilities it was able to provide, kept knocking my head in a rhythmic wave of thoughts.

I turned on the bed, writhed around, covered my face with a pillow. It was strange, after so many years, to be daydreaming about Equestria, the ponies, and the whole concept of getting there – even if virtually – in a few hours. All the fuss about the show was gone, people eventually mentioned it here and there, but that old spark was nowhere to be seen.

In a way, it was quite unsettling to return to this 'brony state of mind'. I still enjoyed ponies, I really did – but since I opened that package, my psychological state must have started a regressive healing process, installed after decades of forgetfulness.

The Dream Device, as Ada referred to it, could have chosen many other chunks of my subconscious memory archive – but it focused the game on my teenage years dreams. Dreams that naturally, were never fulfilled.

As the moon crossed the skies towards the horizon, I kept staring at the ceiling. A distant hum of traffic, ducts, vents, and all the technology scattered around the world unbalanced the quietude of my room. There was no noise, but electronic waves, artificial murmurs, of plastic organs and veins.

That package... It came to change me.

Whoever conceived such a thing, whoever sent it to me – knew its power. There aren't many augmented reality devices available to the general public; we have immersion glasses, high definition screens able to depict practically anything, but as far as I knew, nothing could get in your mind like that.

People have tried, of course – to trick their senses, fool their minds. Machines were built, haptic suits were created to emulate the touch – they were expensive, and I don't know many guys willing to pay thousands of bucks for a kinky sex toy. So much shit happened in the last decade; companies crashed, the virtual sex industry bumped against many ethical barriers.

The government is not very fond of the idea of fucking virtual little girls.

The world has changed a lot lately. As so people.

When the sleep elves finally dropped their thin curtain over me, all those worries and changes vanished into oblivion. I had a date with Twilight Sparkle, and that's what mattered.

It was half past noon when the growling of my stomach woke me up. I stretched my arms out, and yawned – my room had a musty wet smell, so I opened the blinds behind my bed to let some natural light flow in. I had a beautiful view of building's raw concrete backyard, and the endless emergency staircase.

I turned around to leave, but before I made my way out of the room, something caught my eye – the absence of this something – I stared in shock at the nightstand, realizing that my Dream Device was nowhere to be seen. I ducked under my bed, groping the floor in desperate sweeps, but found nothing but dust and porn magazines.

"No..."

I jumped, throwing my bed sheets around, scouring every inch of the carpet.

"No, no, no, no!"

I burst through the door, a smell of burnt toast filling my lungs as I made my way to the living room. The air was smoky around the kitchen, and the toaster lonely beeped over the counter, with some clearly carbonized bread slices sticking out.

"Neil?" I called out.

"Hnnnnghhh..." Something let out a grunt.

"What the-" I rushed towards the noise. "Dammit, what in the world has gotten into you?!" He was laying on his back, hanging from the couch, his eyelids half half opened in a creepy way. Neil's face was pale and expressionless, his soaked hazel hair was flat against his skull, shining with sweat. I worriedly tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't' move.

"Holy crap- Neil!" I grabbed him by the shoulders, and forced the guy to sit up. His hands twitched, but Neil's eyes were lost in a trance-like state. As he numbly fell back into place, I spotted those green familiar lights blinking on each side of his neck. Startled, I pushed his hair away – and there was the Dream Device, attached on his neck like a parasite.

I held on tight as I pulled it away from him. Immediately, Neil breathed for air like a suffocating diver, his arms trembling as he stared at me in surprise for a moment.

"Wow." He gasped.

"Wow? Wow, Neil? What the hell were you thinking?" I shouted, pointing at the device, as he leaned against the couch, panting. "It could have killed you!"

"I j-just... I just wanted to try it." He muttered. "I swear Spencer, I didn't-"

"What for Christ's sake happened here?" I asked. Neil just shrugged, rubbing his eyes.

"I swear dude, really – I have no idea. I just wanted to give it a try, but I don't think this shit works for me. I saw a light bro... a light at the end of a tunnel. It just scared the hell outta me."

"Bullshit." I said. "The Dream Device is not configured for your mind."

"And what do you know about this 'Dream Device' anyway? Who said it's not configured to my mind? Spencer, this thing came from Serbia in an unregistered package – god knows who could have sent it – and why."

"I don't care if it came from Serbia, or whatever. Ada said it was being configured for me – then it was configured for me, not you." I placed the device back on its box.

"Who the hell is Ada?"

Sighing, I just got up from the couch. Arguing with Neil was not worth of my time at all.

"Probably the light at the end of your tunnel."

My roommate had finally disappeared into the basement to start his shift at the bitcoin mine, and the apartment would be finally quiet and peaceful for a few hours. I had a quick lunch at the kitchen – just a microwave lasagna and some toast – and then I headed to my room again. The air smelled of rubber, paper, and also a watery scent that escaped from the crack between the windows.

It was raining hard out there in the concrete patio, and all the guttering system of the building converged to the same place, right behind my apartment. Since I no longer had natural light to enjoy, I closed the curtains for the day.

I sat down in my father's old leather chair, feeling its cold surface with my fingertips. I took the device from my pocket, touching its small metallic features – for a second, I questioned myself for wanting to try it again, even after Neil's incident. – But the thought of having a potential date with Twilight, was simply tantalizing.

"Here I go..." I said to myself, pressing the device's gelid electrodes against my nape. Then the artificial grasp, the electric tingling, the shivers – the emptiness around my body, as reality was left behind. It was crawling through my nervous system, in my neurons, reflecting in each one of my synapses – then it was right there before my eyes.

Ada, the guide.

"Welcome back, Spencer!" She smiled, those striking crimson eyes staring into my soul, as she pulled me into an unexpected hug. It felt a little awkward at first, but I hugged her back anyway, surprised to feel such small nuances – my fingers digging into her pristine mane, the warmness of her breath against my neck, the touch of her hooves around my chest.

"Well I..." I said, parting from the brief embrace "I'm g-glad to be back as well" I rubbed my neck sheepishly.

"What?" She chuckled "Not used to sudden displays of affection?"

"Eh... Not really." I giggled, as I followed Ada through the futuristic white room, long windows filled with light, and bluish glass panels surrounding our path.

"Well, you better get used then. Equestrian ponies do these things all the time!"

"I think I can live with that." I said, considering the idea of hugging ponies at least twice a day. "By the way, what are our plans for today?" I asked, seeing that we had reached the chamber's extremity. "Will you teleport me into an upscale restaurant of Canterlot, and then throw Twilight Sparkle on my table, or something?"

"Ha! No... Not at all." She shook her head. "That would be far too easy. I said you would have to take Twilight to dinner – not that I would provide the dinner. Or the Twilight." Ada pressed her hoof against the wall, and it started to split, slowly revealing a large entrance to another room. "To start the day, I'll get you some new vests and money – You want to make a good first impression after all."

As we crossed the hall leading to the next chamber, I noticed a tall but minimalist sign carved on the wall. It read 'The Closet'. By the time the doors went open, those words made perfect sense.

"Wow..."

"Impressive, isn't it? And to think it's all inside your head." Ada chuckled.

The Closet was an enormous hangar-like place, and all around us there were thousands of aisles, forming columns of seemingly endless corridors. A strong light emanated from the roof, making it impossible to know if there was a roof at all.

"Wallmart owners would get jealous as fuck."

As we walked by the main corridor, I started seeing objects disappearing and being replaced by completely different items, the room was in a continuous state of re-arrangement, and not even the shelves remained the same when we turned around the corner.

"As you may have noticed, here in the closet you can find absolutely anything you may need. From the best Italian suits, to the sharpest Masamune swords. From elastic ropes to ball gags." Ada mischievously smiled at me.

"From elastic ropes to- what?"

"It's not like you're gonna need them anytime soon, anyway." She added. "But you definitely need some better clothes. Give the closet a try; ask and it will be given to you." With that, Ada materialized a red egg chair, and sat down on it, watching as I explored the shelves.

"Where do I begin?" I turned around, clueless. The white mare just rolled her eyes at me. "Ah... Well, uh... In this case, I guess I'm gonna start with a mirror."

As those words left my mouth, all the shelves around us started to change and deconstruct themselves, objects appeared and were replaced – in no time, a large wall made out of millions of different mirrors, of countless shapes and sizes, started to form right in front of me. Soon, a large golden-framed mirror reflected my full body.

"Well... That's a quite efficient system, isn't it?" I said, taking a look at my pale virtual figure. I couldn't help but feel pathetic. As if reading my thoughts, Ada stood up from her seat and walked to my side; we both staring at each other's reflections in the mirror.

"Don't worry Spencer, I'll fix you."

"Do you think it's enough?" I asked.

"It is more than enough."

The truth is that Ada was a freaking good stylist. Following her advice, I got myself a brown 'Burberry cashmere trench coat' – whatever a Burberry cashmere is – a pair of slim dress pants, and some classy leather boots. Fake leather, of course.

She also said something about taming my frizzy hair – which she eventually did, god knows how.

How surprised I was when looked into the mirror again. For the first time in years, I felt decent enough to be seen in public. Spencer Rothenberger was a presentable man again. Years in front of a computer screen can surely ruin someone's semblance.

"Thank you, Ada... I'd be looking like a tramp if it wasn't for you." I chuckled, playing with my new hairstyle. "Damn, you made me look like my brother."

"You just needed a little push!" She lied. "Can we go on now? You have some ponies to meet, and some achievements to unlock. Unless you prefer to stay here in the limbo level, appreciating the mirrors."

"Ops, my apologies, I am done with the closet." I said. "What is the protocol now?"

As we made our way back to the main introduction room, the closet started to vanish away, its entrance morphing into wall again while we returned to the start place. I couldn't help but notice that one of the bluish glass panels had turned into a swirly membrane of sorts, I extended my hand to touch it, but Ada restrained me.

"The 'protocol' is quite simple: As soon as you pass through this portal, I will be no longer able to help or contact you – until your mission gets done. Equestria will stay as an open world, meaning that you will be completely free to explore and interact with its citizens and creatures. Even if you remove the Dream Device – which I believe you'll eventually do – the world will resume its existence when you return." She stated. "If you have any questions, that's the time to ask them."

I had many, but only one came to my mind.

"I'm a human. How will they react to my presence in their world?" It was surely something to consider, because the last thing I wanted was a permanent stay in the dungeons.

"You don't have to worry about that. This is an alternate universe – humans have already made contact." She affirmed.

"Very well then." I adjusted my tie. "Show me the way to the pony butts."

***