"Hey Mom, I beat another world boss, Asmodael!"

The hospital room was sterile and cold. The monitor next to her bed flickered with a soft blue light.

Her presence was comforting in the otherwise depressing environment.

Jack attentively stared at the monitor as her thoughts turned into text.

She had no sensory input, the machine she was hooked on was the only thing letting her be in 'reality', and 'reality' was expensive.

The only thing he could afford was hearing. Even then, it was only for short moments when he came to see her, otherwise, she spent her days in a senseless void.

The only thing they offered was translating her thoughts into text on the monitor next to her bed.

The monitor beeped, and her words appeared.

[Nice! Did you enjoy the fight?]

"Yes, he had depth and purpose, unlike most villains that just start swinging. I felt bad the whole time. I'll be honest, I didn't expect all of that. Truly good."

[Good. Good antagonists make the players question their actions. It puts everything in perspective.]

"You did a good job, Mom. Everything's so immersive like I was truly there. I don't mean the technology, but how you wrote everything, from characters to the plot to include us - the player."

[I'm happy you —enjoyment— —enjoyed it.]

"Damn software! Can't they just upgrade you for free? DiveCore wouldn't be anything without you."

[It is okay. It is not a bug, but a feature. Haha.]

Jack forced a laugh, his eyes distant. 

"Good one, Mom. Alright, let's get you some food."

[Thank you. Could not have a better son.]

Jack dragged his chair closer and grabbed the bowl on top of the platter.

[What is on the menu today?]

"Porridge, again. I've asked them to provide better food, but they insist we need to upgrade. It's alright, though, I made a special dessert—cake."

[Oh! Sorry. Forgot it was your birthday.]

Jack's fingers tightened around the spoon.

[It is hard to keep track like this. Do not worry. I cannot taste the food anyway. Eat the cake for me.]

Jack's hands trembled as he grabbed the bowl, his words barely making it through his teeth. 

"It's your birthday."

She took a moment to answer.

[I'm sorry son. I will have some.]

Jack fed her the porridge, she wouldn't normally be able to eat anything solid, but DiveCore's technology was truly advanced.

Surprisingly, the solid food upgrade was less costly than the IV option. 

Jack guessed that people simply paid more to save time, as the nurses wouldn't feed solid food, forcing relatives to come every day.

[Have you ever tried playing as the antagonist?]

As the monitor beeped, Jack turned to look at it.

"It's daunting. Being with the bad guy makes me feel horrible. Your heart has to be freezing if you choose to complete the game with them. They're doing atrocities. My mind ain't twisted enough for that."

[To the bad guys, the good guys are horrible.]

"But only the bad guys are doing the awful acts. The good guys are just trying to get peace. You're the one who taught me peace. Forgiving my enemies and all that?"

[Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.]

She paused, taking a moment to think.

[Forgiving enemies is important. Understanding how they came to be your enemies too. Things are always more complicated than they seem.]

"Well, I'm glad you taught me right from wrong." 

Jack chuckled at the irony, as everything in that hospital was wrong.

"DiveCore's evil. Every day the fees get higher, it's as if they don't even want people to be better. They could literally fix you for good."

The monitor beeped, but nothing appeared, making Jack frown but quickly dismiss it.

Jack started playing with his hair. His hands slightly trembled while his eyes went around the ceiling as he organized his thoughts.

"Listen... It's been on my mind for a while; remember when I was 13, and school started?"

[Haha. Yes. Around 7 years ago? You were adorable.]

Through Jack's eyes shimmered memories manifested as tears dropping from his face.

He fought against the words he wanted to say. 

They struggled to get out, he felt horrible. It was as if something had his heart in its grasp, tightly holding it.

"I told you- I told you were an unfit mother...that you were horrible, that I hated you..." 

Jack was inhaling in short bursts, almost out of breath, his vision blurry.

"...I told you I wished you were-"

[Enough.]

His mother's thoughts were transcribed faster, rapidly appearing on the monitor as if she was rushing everything out.

[I have been unfit many times. If I could restart I would change many things.]

"But what I said..."

[One thing I would not want to change is you telling me all of this. I could only become a better mother for you after that moment. The person I became would not exist if you had not emptied your mind and trusted me that day.]

"I went too far. You've never been unfit, and I've never hated you. I love you, Mom, and every day I spend here with you reminds me that nothing else matters."

[I love you too. But don't neglect your girlfriend and painting. Both of those things are your future. Speaking of your girlfriend, did you guys fight?]

Jack wiped his face.

"We didn't fight, but it feels like it won't last much longer."

[You say that all the time. What happened?]

"Relationships are complicated..."

She paused but decided not to press it further.

[Did you make friends to beat Asmodael?]

"Ah, they removed the online feature a few weeks ago. I beat him alone."

[Alone? He was designed for a group of 5 minimum.]

"I worked hard for it, it was mostly because of you."

[What do you mean?]

"You created the evolutive gaming technology. Being able to influence other characters as if they were humans made everything easier. I turned another demon against him, and made a move after their fight."

[Wow. It is a good way to do it. But turning a Demon Lord against another should be hard. How did you do it?]

"Asmodael is the acting ruler of the demon realm, his decisions usually went toward the demons he vowed to protect. Not everyone shared his protective approach."

[I am proud. Not many cared to understand this much.]

"Well, the demons don't want to kill every human, but they're still doing it..."

[Would have been more fun if it was online. Like designed.]

"Since they moved on from the full-dive technology it made little sense to keep the servers up. Barely anyone played."

[I understand.]

"Ready for the cake? It's pretty good, if I may say so myself," he smiled. 

[Yes. Bring it on, Chef Jack.]

It wasn't the best he had made but as he found the recipe the previous day, it didn't feel like that bad of a result.

[It's pretty good.]

"You can't even taste it," replied Jack.

[The aura it gives... is tasty?]

Jack laughed.

"Having no sensory inputs anymore awakened your 6th sense, Mom? Are you becoming daredevil soon?" 

[You laugh now, the day they make a mecha I will be the first in line to be a pilot. 6th sense daremecha.]

"Daremecha? Are you writing fanfiction in your free time?"

Jack laughed, momentarily forgetting his sorrows. As he did, he looked at his watch. 

"Maybe we should finish the rest tomorrow? I want to prepare for the painting contest, I have high hopes this time..."

While talking, Jack noticed the headset she wore blinked red. 

It was screwed to her head. Two circular metal domes covered her ears, and a metal band went around, also screwed into the bones.

The monitor beeped again as she kept sending messages.

[Good luck with your painting contest, I believe in you! Also, maybe we can play together with the new technology? Do you think it works with me? Only if you can. Maybe you could put some money on the side for that. It's not a priority. Think of yourself first. Jack?]

[Jack?]

[Jack?]

[Jack?]

[Jack?]

[Jack?]

[Jack?]

[Jack?]

[I can't hear you anymore. Time goes by too fast when you are here. Maybe you fell asleep. I hope you don't get home too late. Good luck with your contest. I love you.]

Jack wasn't silent.

He was yelling and crying. 

He couldn't even poke her head to tell her he was around, she wouldn't feel it.

"Your bills are unpaid, we won't be providing the hearing option for her anymore," the nurse announced while entering the room, her tone devoid of empathy.

"What the fuck do you mean?! Giving hearing costs you nothing! It's already fucked up you won't let her taste anything! It's her birthday!"

The nurse's expression hardened. "We have policies. If we made exceptions for everyone, it would be chaos. Providing sensory inputs incurs a fee. If you can't pay, we can't provide."

She then whispered to herself. "You're lucky we're even taking care of her."

Jack's face was bright red, but ultimately there was nothing he could do. 

He walked past the nurse, insulting her one more time as he headed home.

Maybe if I tell Jessica I just need to get hearing she would help me? Hearing isn't that expensive compared to the other ones... 

He exited the hospital and headed home.

He walked for about an hour before reaching his apartment complex, he lived on the 69th floor.

The residential area he lived in was poor, with many apartment buildings towering up to 100 floors built in close proximity.

While it was one of the poorest parts of town, he couldn't afford it. 

The hospital bills kept piling up. He worked full time in a 'dive cafe', a place where people could just sit and dive into virtual reality without a care in the world.

Ironically, others paid to escape reality, while he struggled in it.

They came in, pressed a button and that was it. The microchip would activate and they were gone.

His mother was maybe right. He already had the chip, and giving her one shouldn't be too expensive, a few months of work at most. 

After that, as long as they could keep the subscription going, paying for sensory inputs wouldn't be necessary, they could just meet and talk virtually.

The only issue was money.

The only way he could make ends meet was with his girlfriend. He met her two years ago, back when his mother was still healthy.

Jack arrived at his complex, quickly reaching the elevator as someone held the doors for him.

"Thanks," he said, out of breath.

An A.I voice spoke up through the speakers.

[The elevator isn't in your residential plan. You need to upgrade.]

"Since when?! I've lived here for two years and now we need to pay for the elevator?"

He got closer, reading the new rule.

[The elevator won't go up as long as someone without the plan is on board. We advise changing elevators in such a situation. 

Thank you.

DiveCore.]

"What?!"

"Listen kid, we're on the 49th floor. Just let us go up, maybe try the next elevator or something," said the father with his kids.

"Alright! Alright! I'm getting off!"

"Nothing against you," the father said as the doors closed.

Jack walked back, sitting on the floor in the lobby, mentally preparing to climb 68 floors.

The elevator beeped. Jack turned his head and saw Jessica getting off, bringing a smile to his face.

"Ah, perfect timing-" but he didn't finish his thought.

Exiting with her was Kyle, who used to be his best friend.

As they walked toward him, Jack used the wall to get himself up.

"Wait for me outside. I'll be right there," she told Kyle.

"What the hell, Jessica?!"

She simply ignored him, typing on her phone.

"You said that it was truly the last time!"

"It's over," she simply said, raising her eyes.

"W- What do you mean over? We can at least talk about it..."

"There's nothing to talk about, most of your stuff is already moved in the lobby."

Jack scanned the lobby in confusion. "What? There's nothing."

She shrugged.

"Why the hell would you do that?! I've lost everything! Where's my brushes and paint?!"

She rolled her eyes. "You don't pay rent, you don't pay utilities, and you don't even pay for food."

"I'm eating one meal a day! I can't even afford more than that while you're eating takeout in front of me almost every day! You won't even let me have the leftovers, you'd rather throw them out!"

"Because you didn't pay for it. How much more should I be giving you? How much more do I need to sacrifice? You stay here for free."

"If I don't pay the hospital bills you know they'll pull the plug! How can you say that, when two years ago you said my mother was your mother too! Now that she's like this it changed?"

"Yeah, everything changed. I pitied you at first, but it's been a year and this won't work for me."

"I can't believe you..."

"Ah, and DiveCore came around, since you haven't paid today, they'll be stopping the services for your mother."

"What?! When?"

Jack patted himself down. In his back pocket was an envelope with his month's earnings.

"I don't know, maybe half an hour ago."

"And you didn't text me?! They'll pull all services!"

"I was busy."

Jack quickly turned around, exited the complex, and made sure to bump into Kyle as he ran to the sidewalk. 

He got his phone out, speed dialing the hospital, crossing his fingers someone would pick up.

After it rang a few times, a monotonous - dead - voice picked up.

"Hello, I was there earlier, with my mother in room 508..."

<...>

"No, I'm coming back right now,"

<...>

"What?! The money is on me, I need to physically..."

<...>

"Listen, it's on me..."

<...>

"LISTEN,"

<->

"What the fuck, she hung up?!" 

I'll never make it in 20 minutes! What's wrong with them?!

His body couldn't keep up, he felt like collapsing but ran even faster, sweat running down his body.

He barely paid attention to the lights as he crossed, or the other pedestrians staring at him.

After a while, out of breath, he got his phone out again.

[22:25]

"5 minutes?!"

I'll be late, but not by much, it should be fine.

He barely noticed the rain as he kept running, soaking wet. 

His phone dinged, breaking through the sound of his frantic footsteps in the pouring rain. Jack glanced at his notifications, his heart pounding. 

He stopped abruptly, the world around him fading.

[Son.]

[Life might seem unfair at times.]

[Living this way made me feel unfit. I thought maybe you hated me for holding you down. For anchoring you to me, forcing you to work even harder.]

[But I was happy.]

[Be happy too. Find purpose. And win.]

[I will always love you.]

[I will wait for you in the respawn room.]

[Mom]

Ah. So that's how it is.

The phone slipped from his grasp; the screen cracking against the wet pavement. 

He stood there, alone and broken as the rain washed over him.

He turned around and looked at both sides of the road.

Ah, there.

As a truck approached, he let himself fall in front of it.