“We just want a fun and safe place for Chelsea to play. She’s had a rough time of it lately.”

The two parents looked at the representative from Stars, Rainbows and Fairydust, also known as SRF. The mother paused, expectantly, inviting comment.

“Well, I think you have come to the right place. Our world is a fun but safe place for children.”

“How do you protect them, exactly?” the father asked, a trace of skepticism evident in his voice.

“For one thing, sir, no one over the age of 12 is allowed inside.”

“Not even parents?” the mother said, raising an eyebrow.

“Not even parents. Moderators may observe and observe only. And if something out of bounds happens, they are authorized to pull the child out. They can even close down the entire system, if need be. But that has never happened. Quite simply, having a giant online playground with only children allowed inside results in us having one of the safest places in the metaverse.”

“What about bullying? Or . . . I don’t know. What if something bad happens?”

“Moderators can always intervene if necessary. We want every child who visits SRF to be happy. Because a happy child will return. And we go out of our way to make every child as happy as can be while they are here.”

The parents traded a glance. Then they looked over at their daughter, Chelsea.

At the moment, the ten-year-old played with a virtual dog that looked much more cartoonish than a real dog. It jumped up and down and yipped at her, wagging its tail.

Chelsea laughed and picked up a ball it dropped at her feet. She tossed the ball out into the green field the family and the representative stood in. The dog barked happily and ran off to retrieve it.

The sky above looked bright cobalt blue, with a golden sun and cotton candy clouds. A luscious and fully arced rainbow stretched across the horizon. Despite the sun being out, a few bright stars twinkled merrily up above.

Down below, butterflies danced among flowers with soft creamy petals the size of teacups. Redbirds chirped happily in nearby trees.

“We see a lot of children who have suffered trauma come through here. The major hospitals all have accounts with us, you know.”

The parents returned their attention to the representative. She looked young and attractive. Twenty-something. Blonde hair. Perfect figure.

Of course, in the metaverse one could sculpt their avatar to look any way they wanted. The family members were all appearing “as is,” the default setting for entering a new world. But the representative could have easily been glammed up for visitors, since attractive sales people seemed more successful.

Chelsea giggled as the cute cartoonish dog loped up and dropped the ball in her hands. She threw it again, and the dog took off once more.

“Well, she hasn’t suffered any horrible trauma,” Chelsea’s mom said. “She’s just . . .”

“High strung.”

The woman glared at her husband for finishing the sentence. He shrugged at her.

Finally, she nodded.

“Yes, she’s very high strung. Last weekend at her cousin’s house . . .” She narrowed her eyes once more at her husband, indicating this happened on his side of the family, not hers. “Chelsea stayed up and watched a horror movie. It gave her nightmares all week.”

At this, her husband winced.

He said, “None of us have had much sleep lately, thanks to her waking up screaming.”

“And the other day, out in the park, someone had their dog off the leash. It barked at her, and started growling. It became very aggressive toward her for some reason. I had to pick her up and we left the park. She had a conniption fit.”

Everyone looked at the cartoon dog, dropping off the ball once more and wagging its tail. Chelsea grinned and threw it harder this time, sending the dog after it again.

“I can assure you that all the animals in our world are completely harmless, and not threatening in the least. Instead, they are friendly and helpful, designed by specialists to provide a warm, inviting, as well as an educational experience for all children in SRF.”

“What do the kids do while they’re in there, exactly?” the father asked.

“Whatever they want. It’s a giant, fun, and safe playground. There’s lots to explore, with many safe adventures to go on. There are tons of non-threatening NPCs to interact with, just like that dog or those birds watching us.”

Everyone stared at the three redbirds perched on the branches of a nearby tree. One of the birds raised a wing and shook it at Chelsea’s parents, as if waving at them.

“There’s lots of games, and opportunities to make new friends. She’ll be in the English-speaking domain, of course, unless you’d like her to learn other languages. We have children from all over the world who are subscribed to SRF.”

The mother sighed as Chelsea once again took the ball from the dog and threw it in a different direction.

The dog, as part of the game and an NPC, would never get tired.

She turned to her husband and said, “What do you think?”

“I’m sold. If she has any trouble, she can always exit the world and come back home, just like any other game.”

The representative smiled, showing perfect white teeth.

“Great! Payment is monthly, and you can cancel any time.”

A square appeared in the air with a dollar figure. Trading one more glance with his wife, the husband reached out and tapped it. The square turned green and disappeared as the charge went through on his account.

A shaft of sunlight sliced down nearby, accompanied by the sound of a chorus singing a cheery children’s song. An arched entrance rose up out of the ground, its golden gates swinging open.

The mother called the little girl over.

“Chelsea, if anything happens, anything at all, you can come back home immediately. You know the command to leave. Your implant will activate and you’ll wake up in your bedroom, in the real world. Okay?”

“Okay, Mommy.”

She hugged both parents at the same time, an arm around each waist. Then Chelsea turned and raced through the gate, following the barking cartoon dog leading the way.

“She’ll be fine, I assure you,” the rep said, flashing them both a bright smile. “You’ve made an excellent choice. This is the safest, and calmest and best place for children in the metaverse.”

The parents nodded, convinced. Together they logged off and disappeared.

Inside SRF, the world opened up. It became rich in detail and multifaceted.

Chelsea stopped and inspected flowers along the way growing candy, plucking the hard sugary petals off like fruit. She popped one in her mouth and raised her eyebrows at the delicious taste.

The dog barked at her, dancing on the path paved with golden bricks. It branched off in three directions from the gate. The one to the left had a sign that read “Gamesville.” The center path’s sign read “Funland.” Finally, the one on the right read “Adventures.”

The dog danced between the three paths, as if encouraging her to make a choice.

The redbirds followed her in, and one of them chirped with a decidedly questioning tone, attracting Chelsea’s attention. It fluttered off the road and into the grassy field lined with giant trees and flowery bushes.

Chelsea decided to follow, making the dog run after her for a change.

The bird flew ahead and stopped on a tree branch near a large clearing, where the air shimmered above the grass.

Chelsea stopped and stared at the spot. Something seemed decidedly off about it. The air grew lighter, forming a rectangle that looked like a door floating just above the ground.

Curious, Chelsea took a few steps toward the floating door.

The bird tweeted in alarm and flew quick circles around her head. The cartoon dog barked and raced after her, trying to block her way.

The doorway fully materialized with a flash of light. Suddenly, she could see through it, and peered into another world.

It opened into a room with gunmetal gray walls, lit by dancing flames in sconces.

“Wow. Is this part of the game?”

The bird sounded a shrill tweet that sounded like, “No!”

Chelsea ignored it.

“It doesn’t look like anything else around here. Can you go in it?”

The resolution strengthened and she could see farther into the room. An evil-looking robot clanked into view, servos whining. It stopped and raised an enormous gun, aiming it at her face.

Chelsea’s mouth dropped.

“I didn’t know they had guns in here!”

The bird made several more distressing sounds.

Chelsea took one more step forward when a figure appeared in the doorway, making her stop. A hideous, scary man.

He wore a dark brown overcoat and an olive green helmet above a gasmask that gave him a spectral appearance.

He stopped and stared at her, eyes widening behind the glass. She heard a deep breath filter through the mask. Slowly, he pulled out a gun from a holster at his side and aimed it at her, just like the robot . . .

The doorway exploded, as if barely holding on for those scant few seconds.

The system tossed her out as the SRF moderators finally managed to emergency eject her. She woke up in the real world with a start.

She sat up in her bed, breathing hard. Shelves lined her room with dolls and teddy bears, staring back at her blankly. Real birds tweeted just outside her window, reminding her of the redbirds in the game.

Chelsea realized she was back in reality, in the comfort of her own home. She shuddered and took a deep breath.

Then she started screaming.