If Lemora had some scruples about his new job, they evaporated when he stepped into the game center. It was a Hitech room equipped with capsules or sleep pods looking like large eggs.
There were five other people -three young and two old -in the chamber. Just one look, and Oliver knew they were all gearheads like him.
"Hello guys, meet our last teammate, Mr. Lemora An..," Euler said. All the five cronies looked away except two.
One was a girl with green eyes, and the other was a skinny young dude. Lemora couldn't see the girl's face as it was covered beneath her black mask.
"Hi! I'm Joe " The skinny fella grinned ear to ear. "Lewis, not Biden, " he added to look funny, but he was not. His shifty eyes warned Lemora to keep an eye on this ratty face if he didn't want his empty purse to be stolen too.
Cutpurses! They were a disgrace to the thieves community. And Lemora could see why.
"Common guys! I understand you all like to work alone. But a short intro won't harm anyone. " Euler tried to inspirit the dispirited crowd in vain.
The three gearheads glowered at the CEO. Evidently, just like Lemora, they had been forced into this fucking game testing business. The discovery eased Lemora's agony a bit. At least he was not alone.
"Mithilesh Shrivastav! Keep a distance from me," growled the other young man as he felt the golden pendant set on his chest. Lemora wondered what was so special about it. The coin-sized locket had some Hindu god figurine embossed on it. Some Shiva or Visnu, maybe! Oliver was not a religious soul. If he had to choose between Devil and God, he would rather kick their asses. The fuckers could have settled their dispute in private; what was the need to drag mankind into it?
"Your daddy is called Albert Spaggiari. If you have a milf mother, let me know," The old man with a scary scar gave him a lecherous look.
Lemora hated such pigs the most. Because of people like him, the world despised their kind. If you got blue balls, go fuck a hooker. Why the hell did you have to give a straight man like him shivers? Oliver showed him his middle finger and turned to the last brown man with dark sunglasses, sitting silently on a stool.
"Mr. Golder can't speak, " Euler said, with a serious face as if he empathized with the old man.
"Do you mean Alan Golder? " Lemora asked; his eyes widened with surprise.
"Rookie!"Albert sneered. Lemora ignored him.
"Yes! He is the Alan Golder," replied Euler with a light smile.
Lemora couldn't help but take another look at the legendary man.
Alan Golder was his inspiration, his hero. He had never thought his icon couldn't even speak.
There was a time when Alan Golder was a nightmare for bankers. The man alone had shacked fifty banks.
"Barabara Parker! Welcome to hell, cutie!" the bandit queen finally decided to speak. Her voice was the jingle of silver bells. That didn't mean Lemora loved it.
"It is not so bad. " Euler chortled. A desperate attempt to lighten the sullen room that again failed miserably. They were all seasoned crooks who had long mastered human psychology.
"Okey guys, let me give you a brief, so you won't freak out" He clapped to get everyone's attention. Gearheads didn't react to his call, but Lemora knew they were all ears.
"The pods you're seeing in this room are called game capsules. Once you lie down inside them, you will feel a slight itching all over your body. Nothing to worry though. It is all because the pod's laser connects the skin receptors to your virtual body.
The itching will subside within a few seconds. Once it does, your consciousness will be pulled into virtual reality. And you will find yourself in the world's first VR game with 100 % immersion."
Euler looked at them to see some reactions. But all he got were dead faces. So he resumed,
"All right, that's all. The program will tell you all the necessary details anyway. Let's start."
Euler clapped again. And six vixens donned in revealing outfits walked in, smiling: an outdated and cheap trick to hijack men's brains.
Barbara snorted.
The trick worked anyway, Joe was drooling, and Albert was sizing up girls' perky boobs.
" What if I want to quit in the middle," asked Mithilesh. "You know we have needs like pissing, shitting."
"Just use the lavatory in the virtual world," Euler's replied.
"Is it a joke? Not funny," said Mithilesh. His face was grim, telling the CEO he was not in the mood for any jest.
"I'm not joking. These pods are designed with advanced technology. They will take care of your bodily needs. So you don't have to worry about it,"
Euler walked over to a pod. He placed his hands over the glass screen. The white sleeping pod glowed up as its lid fanned up, revealing a cozy interior.
"Okay, who wants to be first, " The CEO glanced at them.
None of the six thieves moved. Instead, they gave one another looks and remained rooted to their spots.
Lemora had no wish to be the first. In fact, he never sat even in the front row in his school days.
He loved his privacy above all. Besides, the last bench gave you freedom. Space to be a real human being.
In Lemora's opinion, all frontbenchers were deceivers, a deceitful lot. Because that was what they rehearsed all their school life, trying to act like someone else, kissing asses, and grinning at the terrible jokes of teachers.
"Okey! Let me be the first."
So Mithilesh was the first to surrender. Albert gave him a mocking glance.
"Please remove your clothes. " said one of the attendants, with such a look that made Joe excited. The cutpurse must have been thinking with his cock.
Mithilesh looked a little gauche, but he did pull out his slacks.
Soon he was in his birthday suit. Albert took a licentious peek at the bandit queen.
Was it the result of the codger spending a long time in jail teeming with horny dudes? Lemora wondered. If it was so, then he should thank Euler.
"So small! I bet he doesn't have any gal," whispered Joe.
Lemora felt a headache coming. If he had to spend a few more minutes with these two kooks, he would either kill them or kill himself.
The thief took a deep breath to calm himself down and focused on the procedure.
Girls assisted the shy Indian into the pod. When Mithilesh lay down comfortably, the glass lid closed.
Oliver saw with fascination as lightning sparks as thin as Barabara's silky hair began to dance over Mithilesh's unwaxed body.
After a few moments, everything fades away, leaving behind sleeping Indian calmly.
"He is now in the VR world," Euler said, his eyes gleaming.
Lemora scrutinized the Indian. He looked fine.
So Lemora chose to be the second as he didn't want to spend any more time with the two wieners.
If he encountered them in the VR world, he would shoot them at first sight.
Lemora found the interior of the pods extremely cozy. More so after his stay in prison. The mattress they had given him was hard as a rock. Not to mention his cellmate's snoring. Lemora found it hard to believe someone could sleep while snoring so loudly.
"All comfy, sir?" asked the girl sweetly. The thief nodded.
"Okey! we are closing the pod then," she said.
The lid came down soundlessly.
Lemora closed his eyes as the attendant had instructed him.
Suddenly, he felt tiny fingers caressing his every pore. Then came the promised itching, but it was more like tingling.
The thief felt drowsy, and before he could think or feel something else. His mind went blank. Everything faded away into darkness.
*****
"Wake up!" Oliver heard a distant voice. The voice grew louder as he tried to open his eyes.
"Wake up! We are about to reach Vodia,"
Oliver woke up to a pounding head. Disoriented, he stared at an unfamiliar face of a teen girl looming over him. He blinked, trying to recall who she was.
"Get up! and wash your face. If you don't want to give them one more reason to bully you," The girl with brown hair said as she stepped aside. She was wearing a blue color school uniform, with a sphynx sigil on her chest.
Oliver got up and realized his whole body was aching as if some had given him a sound thrashing. What the hell was going on! He looked around. He was in a cell--no, it was a lavatory.
Ding!
Suddenly, he heard a mechanical noise in his mind. And a screen flickered before his dazed eyes. In blazing letters, 'Grand Theft Online' was flashing on it.
"Welcome, player number two!" a female voice echoed in his mind.
"You have been teleported into Ealorus, a world of scientists and seekers.
Please brace yourself! The system is uploading all the details into your memory until then, please don't take any decision,"
A green bar appeared on the screen, showing the status of how much information had been uploaded.
Oliver felt as if his brain was growing. It was a weird feeling. And soon, new memories appeared in his brain.
According to these memories, Oliver was a student named Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Niel was traveling on a train heading to Vodia Academy of Sciences and Arts, along with hundreds of other students.
The girl before him was a prefect of Sphynx, Niel's schoolhouse. Her name was Ruby Violet Payne-Scott. They were not friends or anything.
As for why he was sleeping in a toilet...
"Are you okay, Neil?" The girl interrupted him.
Oliver nodded as he stood up, fixing his disheveled uniform. "I think I will survive a couple of years." He grinned, trying to hide his grimace. His jaw ached up.
Oliver felt his burning lip with his hand. Wasn't it too realistic?
"I will report this to Mrs. Marguerite. They can't escape this time,"
Ruby clenched her fist in determination as she usually did when she felt helpless.
"it's okay! I will take care of them by myself. " Oliver said as he dabbed the cut with tissue paper.
"Are you sure?" Ruby frowned. She didn't think he could deal with his bullies. After all, it was not the first time when Andrew and his lackeys had thrashed him.
"Yes! Don't sweat it. Thanks for waking me up, " Oliver said as he walked over to the tap.
"As you wish! Anyway, get ready; we are reaching Vodia within ten minutes," with it, the girl left, swishing her skirts. The washroom door shut behind her.
Oliver stared at the unfamiliar face in the mirror. The teen boy stared back at him. The boy's eyes were dark blue, unlike Oliver's brown eyes. His thin lips were curled up in a light smile.
Ding!
Oliver heard the robotic voice again.
The green bar was replaced with a status screen-the one you see in VR games.
"All the details about the character have been uploaded! "
The female voice chimed again, "Please check your status carefully. As for your mission, you can see it under the guild section. Bewarned! Chose your path wisely, in the real world choice matter. What you chose defines not only you but also the events in the world around you. Be careful out there and don't get killed, agent Niel!"
That was all that the female voice said before it turned silent, leaving Oliver staring at the bright display.
He wondered what would happen if he got killed. His sore body reminded him it wouldn't be a pleasant experience.
Before Oliver could browse through functions and options displayed on the screen, he heard an announcement.
"Students, please pay attention. put on your uniforms and get ready. We are about to reach Vodia,"
Oliver snapped out of the daze. The screen disappeared miraculously as if it could read his thoughts.
He hurriedly washed his face, combed his messy hair, fixed his tie, and walked out. The aisle was packed with boisterous students dressed in different colors of uniforms. They all had wristwatches, just like Ruby. It was called wristo.
Oliver glanced at his wrist. Sure enough! He, too, got one. A green dot was shooting across its digital screen. The green dot was the train he was traveling on. Oliver decided to play with it later.
It was really 100% immersion, as Euler had said. Oliver could feel everything--smells of heady perfumes, air, heat, and his heart racing. Everything was real or felt so real.
If Oliver hadn't had the earth's memories and the screen with all sorts of statuses, he might have thought he was really Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Oliver was mere his imagination.
As soon as Oliver reached the cabin with his seat number, the glass door vanished into thin air like magic.
Manipulation of the matter!
Explanation of the startling phenomena appeared in his mind. Oliver walked in, hiding his shock. Was it really a scientific world? Didn't they call it magic on earth?
ZZZZZZ!
A weird sound greeted the thief in the small cabin; Oliver froze in his tracks.
Was Johny, his cellmate, also here? Thought scared him silly.
He looked about.
A boy with a ruddy face was sleeping in a corner, with saliva pooled beside his agape mouth.
"Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon!" a name flashed in his mind. Buffon was the only friend of Niel.
Suddenly Oliver felt a light jerk. The train was slowing down. He had to wake up the boy.
"Get up! you fool! We have reached." Oliver shook the chap violently, wondering why the hell they had to design such NPC.
"Just one more minute! " whined Buffon, trying to bury his face into the cushioned seat.
"If you don't get up at once. I'm going to kick your ass," Oliver said while packing his things into his gear.
Oliver would have left this fat version of Johny behind if his memories had not revealed how the boy had helped Niel survive his last year in the academy.
Buffon was an essential part of Niel's life.
And Oliver didn't want to change things so soon. At least not before knowing more about his mission.
The threat really worked.
"How come we have reached so soon! I couldn't even kiss Marilyn!" moaned Buffon.
"Get up! you've got only three minutes to put on your uniform. Or you can attend the welcoming feast in sleepwear too. But don't cry if Tin-TIn makes you parade naked before the whole school."
Oliver said, throwing Buffon's uniform at him. Tin-Tin was the discipline teacher of their academy.
(Of course, it was his nickname.)
"What! only three minutes!. Why didn't you wake me up early?" Buffon hurriedly got up, his face white with fear. It was genuine, for none wanted to face Tin-Tin.
The horror of Tin-Tin was so much that freshers used to wet their slacks if they met him alone in corridors.
"What happened to your lip?" Suddenly, Buffon asked. "Don't tell me the brutes dare to beat you up again. "
"It's nothing I got slipped. " Oliver lied as he zipped his bag and checked the small cabin if there was anything he forgot to pack.
"Man, we have to do something about it. I can't understand why you don't tell Miss Marguerite," Buffon said as he put on his shoes.
"It is really nothing," Oliver said, unwilling to further discuss it. Niel had a secret, and he didn't want others to know it.
"If you say so! " Buffon got up, adjusting his tie.
They felt another light jerk.
"Please, leave your luggage behind. it will be delivered to your room after inspection. Please don't rush others," They head a female voice announcing.
They had finally got Vodia.
Buffon and Oliver joined the others in the corridor. Oliver felt excited about this new school.
Though he never liked studying, he loved school life a lot.
Not to mention, he was there to commit thefts.