Chapter 3: Chapter Two
He woke up early the next day. The sun had yet to rise in the horizon and as such the skies were dark. The hustle and bustle of the nightlife had already ceased since peak time was already well past. Following routine, he made his way to the door to get any letters addressed to him.
The hierarchical structure of society had caused access to technology to change somewhat. In the past, it was easy to gain access to phones and such. It was not the cost of the technology, but rather one had to fulfill certain conditions to be able to own various kinds of devices. If the society did not see you as a productive member of the community, you were afforded only the minimum rights. The free access to the virtual reality gear was an anomaly he did not understand at all.
He retrieved three letters addressed to him from the door. The first one was the utility bill he had to pay to the local gang that supplied electricity and water to the area. The second was the letter from the orphanage where his sisters were, and the last one was from his sisters, Pearl and Rena. He dropped the utility bill on the table in the living room and took a seat on the cushion beside it. He first pulled out the letter from the orphanage,
Dear Mr. West,
We have to inform you that your sisters, Pearl and Rena West must be moved into your care from the orphanage within the next month since you have reached the age of adulthood or if not able to support them place them up for adoption.
It is unfortunate. However, the orphanage cannot hold extra mouth to cloth and feed when they have other options available to them. Please take note. If you are unable to remove them from our care by the end of the next month, we will have to send them away into the foster care system to make up space for children who are below the age of ten.
Best Regards,
RoseField Orphanage.
He needed to speed up his timeline, and a single tear fell from his eyes as he thought about his sisters. They had only been six when their father died. He had only thirteen at the time. Just thinking about what he went through at the time was heart-wrenching. That day he was in the local general education school where the basics were taught for free to everyone in the community. He was in class when he was called to the principal's office. After the news had been broken to him not so gently he was told his sisters were going to placed in the orphanage whiles he was going to go into the foster care system. He had cried and begged to see them one last time but was denied. He had spent three hellish years in the foster system moving from house to house due to the foster parents complaining about him not respecting them. He scoffed at the memory; the only reason he was not liked was because, he did not do as he was told and be exploited by others. When he turned sixteen, he was allowed to see his sisters for the first time in three years. At the time he manage to come to an agreement with one of the caretakers, he had up until his majority to get situated and get his sisters back or else he would have to let them go as the orphanage could not take care of them indefinitely.
He would not fail them, and he had promised they would live together and would not be separated again. The letter from the orphanage was placed back on the table, and he picked up the letter from his sisters.
Brother,
This is Pearl writing. I hope you are taking care of yourself and not causing yourself harm. Take your time and get everything you need in order. We can take care of ourselves for some time yet.
Mike, come and pick us up now, I don't care if the house and stuff aren't up to snuff. I want my big brother now.
This is Pearl again, don't mind Rena, she has been getting restless with the number of hints the caretakers are hinting at sending us to the foster care system. Anyway, I just wanted to say that we love you and will wait patie - No we will not, I want out now - patiently for you to come for us.
Love, your sister, Hugs, and Kiss,
Pearl. Beautiful Rena.
Mike hardened his resolve to gain all that he could for his sisters. Out of the fifty thousand credits he needed to buy the headset, he had been able to amass forty-five thousand since he started saving over nine months ago and he needed the remaining twenty thousand in the next month. When his meal cost a minimum of fifty credits, and his wage was only a thousand credits a month he had to deal in some shady deals even though they were not outright illegal it was frowned upon.
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It took him a better part of three weeks to get the rest of the money he needed to buy the headset. Ordering it was not a hassle as the government had provided buy out points throughout the country. He had quit his job at the delivery service. All his attention needed to be on the game. It was time find out if his gamble would make or break him completely.
The launch was not due until the beginning of the weekend, and he had a week left before he had to go for his sister from the orphanage. Over the three weeks, his sisters had written to him twice. From their letter, it was evident that they were being prepared to move. He needed to get a somewhat steady source of income and in-game conversion between credit and in-game currency was said to be possible. However, according to the government, they would not release the conversion rate until the game was launched nor any other information.
The next day, the virtual reality helmet was delivered to his house by a drone. The basic version did not need any kind of technical installment. Therefore, technicians were not required. No other information was given about the world so he did not have anything to study in regards to the game all that was left was to wait for twelve midnight to start the game as it was Friday.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone