I take a breath and answer the phone.
"Finally! What took you so long to answer?"
"Sorry, I was a little busy. What did you need from me?"
"I don't need anything from you. Geesh, can I call my daughter just to say hi?"
"Hi."
My mom sighs and says, "Look, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Your brother told me he was waiting for you outside the other day and you never answered the door for him."
"Oh.. I didn't know that. I'll call him after our call."
"Good. Now, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing alright."
"Are you sure? Is there really nothing else on your mind lately?"
"I- well, I guess I, I broke up with Kevin the other day."
"Why?"
"He..didn't understand what I needed from him."
"What did you need from him?"
"Emotional connection and attention."
"Pftt.. that's a lot of guys. You're always going to meet a guy who doesn't know how to emotionally connect and give attention."
"I get that there are people in the world who don't learn how to share emotional connection or give undivided attention and some times there are those who are willing not to learn, which was Kevin. That's why I decided to break things off."
"See, I told you he never truly loved you."
My mother has a natural spicy tongue. I didn't want to admit she was right, but she was right that Kevin was the kind of person who didn't desire me enough to take action for us.
"Anyway, thanks for calling me, Mom. I love you. I gotta go and finish this paper."
"Alright honey, talk to you later."
I hang up the call and sigh.
"Wow, you're mom is kinda, uh, a straightforward kind of person."
"Yep, and I can't believe you heard the whole conversation."
"Yep, I did."
I sigh.
"So tell me more about you. You seem to live alone. I also live alone at the moment, too."
"I live on my own for now. I'm in college, hoping to finish up school within a week or so. Then I have to find a job to support myself financially."
"I'm also in college. I have about two years left of college though."
"What are you studying for?"
"I'm studying to be a singer."
"That's cool, I'm studying to be a technical writer. What is your major? I'm majoring in English Literature."
"I'm majoring in Philosophy."
"Interesting, I never thought about musicians majoring in something other than music."
"There are plenty of musicians who do."
"I can assume that, but I just never met someone who did."
"Well now you know. Anyway, do you have other things you have to do over there?"
"Um, I should finish my papers for my finals. What about you?"
"Well, like I said, I have my own circumstances."
"What about your homework? You said you're in college, too."
"Oh, yeah, of course I'll be working on them from within the game, but I'm in a special circumstance where I am stuck remember?"
"You said I'm stuck, too, but what do you mean by that? I can still interact with the world normally."
He sighs a little and says," Well, the difference is that I can feel what you feel and I'm not sure if you feel what I feel or not, but you're going to have to pretend that you don't hear me. Try speaking with me through your thoughts."
"Alright, I'll try."
I take a breath and start thinking my thoughts.
"Okay, am I doing this right?"
"Yes, I can hear you."
"Woah, really?"
He nods and says," Yes, as I thought, we can communicate through your thoughts too."
"Wait, does this communication thing have to do with our brainwaves connecting through the world simulator and the head gear?"
"I think you're onto something, but yesterday when you were getting ready to sleep, you took off your head gear and I was still able to see and hear you."
"O. M. G. That is seriously an invasion of privacy. Are you able to turn it off on your end?"
"I- this has never happened before so I'm not sure. All we know is, the head gear might not be as necessary as long as you created a connection of brainwave frequencies."
"But, it's not like school teaches you how to connect brainwaves, so how is this working?"
"I think it has to do with the A.I. technology that is incorporated into the programming of the game. I think the technology kinda taught us how to connect."
"What? How?"
"I'm not really sure. I'm just making theories with you. It only makes sense that A.I. technology had something to do with evolutionary communication through human brainwaves, as in, our situation right now. Try talking or thinking to me without the gear."
I take a breath," But what if this breaks the game?"
"It won't. You're able to move and eat and interact with the world like usual and your body over here is safe.'
"We're just experimenting, but if you're too scared, we don't have to."
"I- this is something new and I feel uncertain about trusting theories that I will be okay and that the game isn't just a game. It's kinda scaring me now. I feel confused about what is reality. If you can feel and see what I feel and see, then how come I don't feel what you feel and what you see?"
"I'm not sure."
Ding!
"What was that?" I asked.
An image of a card slides in front of me onto my goggles.
"It's a card? What is it?"
"It's.. a card with your picture on it."
"That's a little creepy, but that might be the gaming feature. Does the card say anything?"
"No, it's just a picture of you at home."
"Okay, well that's a start."
"I can, I can smell the cinnamon from your side."
"Really?"
"Mhm."
"Interesting, so the cards have something to do with enhancing your senses. But I wonder what triggered my ability to sense your senses?"
I shrug and sigh.
"This is creepy, interesting, but scary because how is this possible? It's like we're living in a sci-fi movie."
"We have so many questions and no answers. Well, do you think you can finish your homework before the event that is about to happen soon?"
"How soon?"
"I switched day to night, so you might have a day's worth so about ten to twelve hours."
"I'm almost done with my project. It shouldn't take me too long."
"I'll be here until you finish."
He and I type away at our laptops and continue tapping away until lunch time.
"I think I finished my paper!"
"Nice! Me too, I guess."
I click to turn in my paper online.
"With this, I'll graduate this Saturday!"
"Congrats."
"Sorry, I wish we can find a way to get out of the game. Are you actually stuck?"
"Mhm."
"Can I ask you how you know you're stuck? Like what's the story?"
"I.. don't know if I should or could tell you right now."
"It's a bit of a secret."
"But, wouldn't it be better for us both to know so we can help figure out together about what's happening to us?"
"Maybe another time."
"Hmm.. okay."
I start walking to the kitchen and place slices of bread on a plate.
"What are you going to eat? A sandwich?"
"Bingo! A ham sandwich."
"Now I'm craving for one, too"
I start cutting a few slices of tomatoes and put them on the side. I wash some lettuce and cut them in half then spread mayo and mustard on the bread. I stack the lettuce and tomato and ham together and take a bite.
"I can't see what is happening on your side but I can kinda hear you washing lettuce. What a copycat, hehe."
"Sandwiches are great."
We both start to chew and enjoy the moment.
"This is so strange. It's like we're living together, haha."
"It kinda does."
"Um, do you think you can close your eyes and ears when I gotta do personal things?"
"Uh.. I'm not sure, but… I'll try."
I can't see his face, but his voice gives it away that he is a bit embarrassed.
"It's kinda nice knowing I have someone by my side who understands me and what is going on."
"It is? I mean it feels nice to share moments with someone."
"I've always wanted something like this."
"Really?"
"Mhm. It's unfortunate that you're stuck, but I think living together with someone who understands or tries to understand you is really nice. Sharing moments together is just a plus."
"You have a brother right? Wasn't living with your brother something like this?"
"Mm.. not at first. For the first time, it was like waging war on who could steal bites off eachother's plates, ahaha. After that, he grew distant and cold. But nowadays he's better and tries to check on me. Which reminds me, I should call my brother."
"Don't mind me, I'll try to figure things out on my end about turning off senses and stuff."
I start dialing a number on my phone and wait until the ringing ends.
"Hey, Hina! How are you doing? I came by earlier and it seemed like you were out. Did something happen?"
"I am so so sorry, I was busy playing this new game. I didn't mean to worry you. Mom called me about you coming."
"It's okay. I just wanted to visit you for a little bit, but I guess you were just relaxing on your own time. Maybe we can hang out next time?"
"Yeah, sure! Sounds like a plan."
Oops, that means I'll have to risk taking off the head gear. It's okay, we'll figure this out later.
"So anything new happening? Besides you graduating college of course."
"Um.. well, I broke up with Kevin."
"Seriously?! How come? You two sounded like you were doing so well. What happened?"
"Well, I'd been thinking about breaking up with him multiple times before, but this time, I just remembered what I truly want in a relationship which is emotional connection. And he and I had been struggling to connect because he just refuses to be vulnerable with me or tell me his feelings. I know people have their own pace, but the thing is, he obviously doesn't want to try to be vulnerable and make connections with me, and I get people have the right to say and do what and whenever they want, but I…"
"You saw that he wasn't willing to make the leap with you."
"Mhm."
"Darn, I really thought he was the one who would make you happy."
I could feel a tingle in my throat and my eyes water.
"It's alright. At least I can focus on myself a bit more now."
"Are you alright?"
I whisper, "No."
I start tearing up and walk around the bedroom to grab me a box of tissues.
"It's okay, you'll find a better person who understands your wants and needs"
"I hope so."
"Well, I gotta go. I hope you feel better soon and don't worry, okay? You're just living life like everyone else and now you know what you want and need. I'll talk to you later sis."
"Talk to you later."
My brother hangs up the call. I sniffle and throw away my balls of tissues and begin to lay down.
"I think I'm ready to head towards that event you were talking about," I tell Mitsuki.
"You sure? It might take a while. What about school?"
"I finished all my final projects. I just need to attend my graduation and that's it. It's this Saturday so I have time before then."
"Okay, if that's what you want. Let's do this."