The next morning Spencer rolled out of bed and grabbed his usual battery of medications and a red sports drink. He quickly and deftly handled the medication creating a small pile of his daily dose of regulation. As he stared at them he sighed and shook his head. A loud bang resounded thru the room causing Spencer to drop to his belly and roll to his bed. He reached his hand between his mattress and box spring to pull his pistol from its holster. He pointed the firearm in the direction of the door and slowly rose from the cover of his bed with his sights aligned. All the while his pistol instructor's voice rang in his ear 'Sight to eye not Eye to sight Moyer! STOP SLOUCHING!' As he rose to meet the threat, his cousin stood there nonchalantly munching on a piece of toast with a blank stare.
"You done there dipshit?" Al spoke thru his mouthful of buttered toast unimpressed.
"How many times have I told you not to erupt thru my door like a mad man." Spencer stood up and holstered his pistol in between his mattresses. "Why do you do that?"
"Come with me." Al spun on his heel and walked down the hall to the next room without explaining. Spencer adjusted his appearance and followed his cousin. He entered the room next to his and came to a full stop. Four people stood in the room aside from him and Al.
"This is Alan and Gerry spelled with a g not a j, they will help you with setting up your account." Al waved his hand at two people wearing suits, "They are lawyers specialized in HIPAA Law and Accounting to help you set up the money side of the game. Currently the transfer of in game to out of game is one hundred to one so every hundred silver you have you can transfer it out to one dollar." Al paused and looked at his cousin before continuing.
"These two are doctors who specialize in advance neurological care." He waved to the two middle aged women. "This is Alex and Callie they will get you hooked up in the VR pod. You ready?"
"Uh." Spencer shrugged, "sure, lets do it."
"Hi my name is Alexander Lewis," The older of the two women stepped forward and shook Spencer's hand. Spencer then noticed a gold star on her lapel next to an anchor and globe. "Its a pleasure to meet you Staff Sergeant."
"Hi, I am Callista Davis." The darker skinned younger woman of the two stepped forward and shook his hand as well. She as well wore a gold star next to a set of chevrons. "I am the project lead Staff Sergeant."
"Nice to meet both of you." Spencer pointed at the gold stars. "Sorry for your loss."
Both women exchanged smiles before giving him a kind smile and nod.
"My name is Alan Black and I am the accountant and this young lady is Gerry Andersen. She will make sure that all the paperwork is done so that you understand the legal aspects of what information they can use under their report."
The next hour Spencer sat with the legal experts as Al who helped him understand the legal jargon. After he finished the two left the room.
"Now Staff sergeant we need you to strip." Dr. Davis stated flatly.
"Uhm," Spencer looked at Al with a laugh, "Sorry but we just met and you haven't even bought me dinner."
"We need you to change into this sensor suit that will monitor your entire body." Dr. Lewis rolled her eyes before glaring at her gruff colleague as she handed the suit to Spencer.
"Oh okay." Spencer took the suit and went into the bathroom and quickly changed into the Bio-suit the doctors called it. He reemerged from the bathroom covered in the teal and silver bio suit and stretched.
"Please stop doing that." Dr. Lewis adjust the data pad sitting on the VR pod.
"Why is that?" Spencer looked at her confused.
"You are distracting the workers." Al chimed in with a chuckle.
"No." Dr. Davis chimed in without looking up from the pod. "He is in pretty good shape but he was running operations a month ago so it's expected but it's because the suit is meant for minimal movements. It's supposed to be tight to read all of your biometric data as it leaves your brain and reacts with your body."
"Ah, so what now?" Spencer inspected the pod with more scrutiny than before. He noticed how sleek it looked. It resembled a fighter jet cockpit if you cut it off the nose of the ship.
"Take a seat." Dr. Lewis motioned as the cockpit hatch opened and the seat lifted up.
Spencer eyed the seat for a few moments before he stepped forward and took his place. Dr. Davis stepped forward and started plugging in the leads to the VR pod before handing him the helmet.
"This will transmit all the video and interface directly into your brain thru vibrations. The HUD shield provides a saline solution for your eyes to avoid any damage from them being open."
"Wait my eyes will be open?"
"Yes we have to transfer the images while you are under an induced nocturnal lagophthalmos."
"A what?" Spencer eyed the helmet.
"They are gonna give you a chemical that induces the same effect as those who sleep with their eyes open." Dr. Lewis stepped in. "Sometimes my colleague forgets we are talking to a soldier not another neurologist."
"Okay so put it on like this?"
"Yes sir." Dr. Lewis replied.
"Ma'am don't call me sir." Spencer paused and smirked at the doctor. "I work for a living."
All three people in the room rolled their eyes at the Staff Sergeant's joke.
"Are you ready Sergeant Moyer?"
"Yes ma'am." Spencer took a deep breath as he looked at all the sensors on the blacked out visor. It reminded him of a clear, star filled, night sky in the mountains. It was soothing as memories from Spencer's childhood flooded into his mind.
"Initiating research of effects of deep dive VR gaming on TBI." Dr. Davis adjusted her screen in front of her workstation across the room.
"I'll stick around and help him get use to the game." Al pulled open his phone and connected to the pod thru his internet.
Spencer was staring at a blank screen as he waited. He felt the system initialize and his body felt weightless. It was there, but he felt all his injuries from the last decade of warfighting disappear as if he was sitting in the recruiting station. Spencer felt amazing and was so engrossed in the lack of pain that he didn't realize the login button appeared.
"Is everything alright cousin?" Al asked after a long wait.
"Yes. It is more than alright." Spencer's reply was borderline creepy to Al who had never heard his cousin speak that way. He tossed a stare at Davis and then to Lewis who started swiping thru some screens and comparing the images.
"The lack of the gray area around his Parietal lobe suggests that his chronic pain from his injuries just vanished for the first time in a long time." Lewis replied as she showed her screen to her colleague and Al. "Sergeant Moyer how does it feel to not feel pain for the first time in a long time?"
"Wonderful ma'am." Spencer just sat there for a moment. He engulfed himself in the feeling for a few minutes before opening his eyes and realizing the log in button was floating in front of him. "Um. what do I do? I have no arms or hands to push the buttons."
"Ha no need cousin just think about pushing the button. It also will determine how your brain interacts with the system so just take a few deep breaths and think 'push the button' and it will just happen."
Spencer calmed himself and when he felt ready he thought to himself 'push the button'. A loud ding went off and Spencer was teleported into a simple room. It reminded him of the interrogation rooms he had spent time in questioning captured enemies.
"Welcome player how are you?" Spencer turned towards the voice. "let me check your system for your info." The man standing in front of Spencer, if he could be classified as a man was a very attractive colorful individual somewhere between genders. "Spencer Arthur Moyer, age 32, background soldier and firefighter before that, disposition...brave, helpful, tactically creative, character attributes best suited...primary, might, agility,, vitality, endurance...secondary, judgement, perception, wit...tertiary, charm, Bloodline...this must be wrong."
"Uhm. What?" Spencer eyed the effeminate man.
"Bloodline, unique...Trahlenga." a weird mix of curiosity and confusion washed over the face of the being before him. "Let us pull up your starting stats."