Jason stretches as he steps out of the VR capsule and grumbles to himself. “So this is the legendary gnawing hunger you get after a long stay in VR. The capsule might keep you fed but it isn’t putting anything in your stomach. It might keep everyone thin but goodness gracious, this is the first time I have felt real hunger in this life. I have a better understanding of why all the adults were so irritable during the yearly mandated week of no VR. Even if you are used to eating tons of food a day in NeoRealm, you can’t eat hardly anything out here. Especially with how shrunken the stomach must get. Nevermind that is one reason they force everyone out of VR in the first place. The capsule might keep your muscle tone to a degree but it still isn’t advanced enough to truly work miracles.”

In the kitchen there is a new note on the fridge. Less of a message this time though and more his mom chewing him out for eating her cookies. Jason just smiles to himself as he opens the door. However only disappointment meets him. There isn’t anything in there. The freezer, while sparse, has a few things but they are all tv dinners that his mom loves. Though Jason sometimes wonders if she loves them because he hates them.

Jason can only shrug. He would have to go out anyway to link his bank account. After technology got too good at faking people, the concept of online banking went extinct. You can’t even do anything over the phone anymore. A nice meal after having to deal with bank security will be just the thing to destress. Mind made up he gathers the few things he needs. Before he can leave Jason spots another note, this one on the door.

Yo Jason,

Don’t buy more stuff for the fridge. I considered letting you learn that lesson the hard way but I would have to deal with all the rotten food as well. Also, I am actually out of the house atm. Dang company wanted me to go in person to check the new server location. Then again, if it got to this point, I don’t know why they are even going through with this. Why buy a new location if you can’t trust the seller? Whatever

Love,

Your awesome and forgiving* Mom

On a hunch Jason flips the note over and on the back it says “*except for eating my cookies”. He can only facepalm. It has been days, weeks even if you count VR. Still she has to bring up the cookies. Nothing he can do about it so he brushes past the note into the hallway. Rather bland to look at but an apartment on one of the nicer hallways in the arcology costs an absurd amount. If he really wanted a riot of color, he could always turn on the AR feature everyone gets installed as a child. He doesn’t need to for this trip though. Just a half hour later and he finds himself in front of the local bank branch his family uses. A quiet trip with only a handful of other people out and about.

Once inside the bank though he is pinged to activate it. With a sigh Jason turns on AR. Just a thought and the boring gray bank transitions into an opulent scene. They covered the ceiling in a fresco. The walls flow with scenes of a simulated alien ocean. Most important though is the blue screen right in front of him. A different shade and frame to keep it distinct from a NeoRealm window for legal and sanity reasons but no one would mistake its origin.

On that screen is information on how long his wait time is. Jason’s shoulders slump as he trudged over to a bench. After he sits down with a sigh, he tries to console himself that at least he will have time to search the forums. Though the timer counting down from two-and-a-half hours taunts him. You would think all the technology would make things quicker and wait times shorter. However when the only way to get people to work somewhere physically is to provide VR capsules and generous play time that all goes out the window.

Not that Jason begrudges the employees. Everyone, even parents know nowadays that you can’t pause an online game. NeoRealm especially isn’t something you can just pop out of whenever you want. He admits to himself that he might be lucky. The bank will only schedule one of their employees to come out once a person shows up at the branch. If he showed up at a bad time, it could have taken twice as long to get assistance.

With nothing else to do and all his grumbling worked out Jason opens up his browser. The first thing that greets him is a congratulations on joining the greater community along with a few links. The first feels particularly targeted, “So you’re waiting in a bank and want to know what else is new.” Seems he isn’t the first to follow this path. The page loads and right at the top a big counter shows how true this is. Going by the number there are almost a thousand other people on the page at this very moment.

Below that though is some incredibly helpful information. Though the first bullet point just tells him that if he isn’t physically at the bank waiting, he should do so right now because it can take forever. However right below that is the most important tip. It simply tells him that when he sets up the NeoRealm connection to not use a pre-existing account. Rather than using his savings or debit account he should set up a specific NeoRealm account. Apparently banks have special features when you do so but they don’t advertise it. Something about NeoRealm requiring them to have the features but the banks not liking it so they pushed back. If you don’t ask for it right at the start, you lose the qualification.