Vicky was still at the plaza with Alex.
"You're telling me that Crystal was with you… a few minutes ago?" Alex asked astonished, after Vicky explained what happened with Mia earlier.
"Yes. She said she got a level up," Vicky said.
"Oh dear! OH DEAR!" Alex said and walked to a computer.
"What?" Vicky asked walking behind Alex.
"Crystal has been cloned and given an upgrade," Alex said, calmly asking for the computer from its user.
"That doesn't explain how she knew that Dia had school," Vicky said.
"Did she log out?" Alex asked.
"Yeah," Vicky replied.
"Oh! That's not good. You need to go back and check if she's alright… In the real world," Alex said.
"What about rescuing her?" Vicky asked raising an eyebrow.
"You'll have to do that tomorrow," Alex said. Vicky stood staring at Alex. "You need to go. Now!" Alex said.
"Ok. Ok. I'm going," Vicky said. She went out of the plaza, and got to her car and went to the safe house, and logged out.
Vicky woke up in the real world, inside the pod. It was still dark, but not as dark as earlier. Vicky came out of the pod, and checked her phone. She had ten missed calls from Rachel. Vicky called Rachel back. After a few minutes of ringing, Rachel picked up.
"Hello," Rachel said.
"Did Mia wake up?" Vicky asked, walking out of the room.
"No. Where have you been? I've been calling you for the last… I have no idea how long and you didn't pick up," Rachel said annoyed.
"I was in the game. I found something about Mia," Vicky said.
"Vicky. Mia is in a coma. They took her to the hospital when she didn't wake up," Rachel said.
"You took her out of the pod?" Vicky asked, walking down the stairs.
"Yes. What else were we supposed to do? She wasn't waking up. Mom got so scared, so we took her to the hospital," Rachel said.
"Are you at the hospital now?" Vicky asked.
"Yes," Rachel replied.
"Send me the address. I'll come," Vicky said.
"Ok," Rachel said and kept the phone.
Vicky took her car keys, and her jacket and walked out of the door. It was dawn, as the sun was rising. Vicky got into her car and drove off.
Once in the hospital, Vicky walked to the receptionist.
"Hi, I am looking for Mia Wilson," Vicky said to the receptionist.
"Hi. Please wait a few moments," the receptionist replied. She searched a little on the computer and said "Fourth floor, room number 401."
"Thank you," Vicky said with a smile.
"Your welcome," the receptionist replied.
Vicky walked to the elevator, the button to hail the elevator had already been pressed as two other people were also standing beside her. Vicky was nervous because she would have to encounter Mrs. Wilson in Mia's room. Vicky waited until the elevator came, and got onto it, pressing the button to the fourth floor.
"Visiting someone?" an old lady who got into the elevator asked Vicky.
"Yeah," Vicky replied in a soft voice.
"Oh me too. My daughter just had a new baby. My husband couldn't make it, so my son dropped me off. Who are you visiting dear? Your mother or father?" the old lady asked.
"My best friend," Vicky replied.
"Oh the memories of me and my best friend. There's so many of them. I hope you two make some nice memories too, cause in the end, memories are all we have left of the people we love," the old lady said. The elevator pinged on the fourth floor, and Vicky got out of the elevator and held the door.
"Say congratulations to your daughter," Vicky said with a smile.
"I will dear," the old lady said. Vicky smiled and nodded her head at the old lady and took her hand off the door. The elevator door closed, Vicky turned towards the rooms and looked for the number 401. Vicky took a deep breath and opened the door to the room.
"Vicky!" Rachel said in delight.
"Rachel. Mrs. Wilson," Vicky said looking at Rachel and her mother. Mia was lying on the bed in a coma. Rachel and Mrs. Wilson were seated on the extra bed in the room.
"Vicky, how have you been?" Mrs. Wilson asked.
"I'm good," Vicky responded.
"Darling, you can talk to me anytime you want," Mrs. Wilson said.
"Thank you," Vicky replied.
Mrs. Wilson was a psychiatrist, and Vicky used to visit her frequently when she was young, but after her parents passing she rarely visited Mrs. Wilson. Rachel and Mia were sisters, Rachel being the youngest. Rachel was fifteen, and Mia was twenty-one. Vicky had been best friends with Mia since they were in kindergarten.
"How is Mia doing?" Vicky asked, taking a deep breath.
"The doctor asked us what happened, and Rachel explained everything to him. The doctor said this was not the first time something like this happened. Apparently players have gone into comas a few times before too," Mrs. Wilson said.
"Hmm… that's interesting," Vicky said, in all seriousness.
"You girls have grown up so much. I remember the first time Mia came home all excited to tell me about this new girl she met in her class," Mrs. Wilson said.
"Yeah. I remember that. I threw a massive tantrum and Mia was just standing there so calm. Even the teacher was scared of my tantrum, but Mia, she just stood there staring at me," Vicky said with a smirk.
"You always made sure no one messes with your family," Mrs. Wilson said.
"Yeah! They shouldn't have started saying bad things about my brother and his grades," Vicky said, and sat on the chair beside Mia's bed.
"Did you have breakfast?" Mrs. Wilson asked after a few moments of silence.
"Hmm… No… Not yet," Vicky said diverting her eyes from Mia, to Mrs. Wilson.
"Rachel hasn't had anything either. Why don't you two go get something to eat from the canteen," Mrs. Wilson said.
"Ok," Vicky said.
"What about you, mom?" Rachel asked.
"I'll eat later," Mrs. Wilson said reaching for her wallet.
"Mrs. Wilson, it's fine. I'll pay for Rachel," Vicky said, getting up from her seat.
"I can't let you do that sweetheart. I know you look after her as your own sister, but… I can't let you pay for her," Mrs. Wilson said.
"It's fine Mrs. Wilson. Don't worry," Vicky said with a smile. She looked at Rachel who lazily got up from the bed, and walked behind Vicky. Vicky and Rachel walked out the door and closed it. After walking further down the corridor to the elevator, they began talking.
"She's going to be alright, right?" Rachel asked looking at Vicky. Vicky looked at Rachel and put her arm around Rachel's shoulder.
"We need to talk about that," Vicky said.
"What do you mean by 'we need to talk about that'?" Rachel asked.
"We need to go to my car first," Vicky said. Rachel looked at Vicky, and followed her down to the car park. They got into Vicky's car.
"What are you not telling me?" Rachel asked.
"Ray, that was not Mia in the game. That was a clone," Vicky said.
"What do you mean she was a clone? How would she know that I had school today, if she was a clone?" Rachel asked angrily.
"I don't know Rachel," Vicky said raising her voice.
"What do you mean you don't know? You got her addicted to the game, and now look at her," Rachel shouted. Those words pierced through Vicky's heart, she had nothing to say to Rachel. She never thought Rachel would say those words to her, despite knowing deep down, that she was the reason all along. Vicky took a deep breath, looked away from Rachel and back at her.
"I'm going to fix this," Vicky said getting out of the car. "Come on. Let's go get breakfast for you and then I have some work to do," Vicky said.
Rachel and Vicky got breakfast for Mrs. Wilson too, and went to Mia's room.
"Hey, what took you two so long?" Mrs. Wilson asked. Vicky and Rachel were both quiet.
"There was a long cue at the canteen," Rachel said, and sat on the bed beside Mrs. Wilson.
"Did you eat something Vicky?" Mrs. Wilson asked seeing the extra food in the bag.
"Yeah I did… that's for you. And I have some work to complete, I'll see you later," Vicky said, lying about having eaten. She turned to go out the door.
"Stay safe, dear," Mrs. Wilson said.
"I will," Vicky said without looking back, and walked out the door.
Vicky raced back home, and walked to the room with the pod in it. She took her phone and called Blaze.
"Hello," a guy's voice answered.
"Chase, I need you in the game now," Vicky said.
"Vicky, I don't have free time like you. I am at work," Chase said.
"Can't you…," Vicky said and paused remembering what Rachel told her earlier.
"Vicky?" Chase asked.
"You know what. Maybe the game can wait," Vicky said.
"Oh! Ok. I'll call you later then," Chase said.
"Ok. Bye," Vicky said.
"Bye," Chase said and hung up the phone. Vicky kept the phone on a table, and stepped into the pod.