4 - Phase One


    A drizzle of rain began to fall around the site. I looked down at my body, wide and heavy, then at my hands. I had thick round fingers and dense big palms. “I can’t believe I let myself get this way.”


    “Alright guys, gather around!” A boy shouted, running to the center of the massive yard. He climbed atop a tall scaffolding ten feet from the ground. “My name is Jax, I work as a foreman in construction. This Virtual A.I. bullshit picked the right one! Let’s get it done!” The heavy gear on him made the boy look like a trick-or-treater.


    His words struck me with a strange encouragement. I began to realize the stark difference between my challenges with obesity now versus in the real world. There was no ‘comorbidity’. The word was created to bundle a person’s diagnoses together like a snack variety pack. Although the weight burdened me in the VR system, I felt motivated and energized in ways I never had. I looked up from my hands and walked forward, moving slowly in the direction of the boy who gave instructions.


    Jax was a strong-faced child, with tan skin and eyes fiery with determination. If I hadn’t known that he was an adult trapped in a child’s body I would’ve pegged him for an Eagle Scout.


    “How do we know we can trust you?!” A boy shouted. This one question became dozens more from the crowd of children circling Jax. “Should you even be up there?” A girl asked. The questions went unanswered.


    “You three,” Jax said, pointing to a group of boys, “flatten out those two tarps, then I’ll show you how to hang them. We need a dry construction area for the concrete.” The boys looked at one another, a bit of confusion between them, before nodding and following his directions.


    Jax took his goggles off, looking around squinting through the mist. “I need someone to drive over that cement truck and park it nearby!” He shouted.


    “Yessir,” A boy replied, he’d already somehow gotten dirt on his face. “Names’ Ralph, I’m a truck driver, I can do it.”


    “Good stuff Ralph,” Jax said, “now I need some guys to gather some bricks. Make some piles here.” He pointed to the base of his scaffolding.


    “We can do it, Jax,” Some boys said. I noticed the boy who first questioned him also began working. This Jax guy was some kind of natural-born leader. Why the hell was he here?


    I was approaching a pile of loose bricks in my walk toward Jax and had an idea to work. I almost laughed at the thought. Manual labor. I walked past them, then stopped. Why would I go ask Jax what I can do to help when he already said something to do? I could at least carry a few rather than just walking by them. I turned and lifted six and tucked them under my arms.


    Nope, too heavy.


    I put two back and continued walking, a laborious effort, to the bottom of the scaffolding. There was a bubble that appeared in front of me.


    (Minor Strength Sphere progress: 5%)


    I stopped to read the text. What is a minor strength sphere? I didn’t remember Paul and the other guys talking about this. The percentage was increasing at a slow rate as I carried the bricks only to disappear when I put them down. Hmm. I began to wonder what would happen when it went to 100%.


    I allowed curiosity to get the best of me.


    I walked back to the pile of bricks and grabbed four more walking back to the growing pile of bricks. The percentage was now at (30%). I looked around to see that everyone was working together at this point, following the instructions given by our impromptu leader. I glanced up at Jax who had his back turned to everyone following his directions. Ralph and a couple of other boys were standing among him talking. Must be making the leadership group or something.


    I continued my trek back and forth to the bricks, my heavy weight making the task slow and strenuous. We were Sixty kids or so just making an effort to build in the rain. I smiled. It felt good to be a part of something. A cog in the machine they say. After a few marches to and from, a new bubble appeared in front of me.


    (Minor Strength Sphere progress: Complete!)


    (A Minor Strength Sphere has been added to your inventory.)


    I pulled the sphere from my inventory, a small green orb was the size of a tennis ball. It felt warm to the touch and there was smoke swirling inside it. I wonder what I’m supposed to do with this.


    “Well I’ll be, you got that pretty quickly!” Ralph said, the dirty-faced boy walking towards me. “He told us females wouldn’t get strength spheres for a few hours.”


    “Who told you that?” I asked, examining the dirtball.


    He was covered in so much filth it was as if he had intentionally covered himself in it. Maybe he had. His voice was very American, bragging about his pickup truck at a gas station, American. “Jax of course! Can I see the sphere? He’s collecting those ones from the females.”


    I looked at him in confusion. After I carried all those bricks to earn this thing, I was supposed to give it to him? Screw that. I still didn’t even know what it was for. “What do you mean females? Why is he collecting them?”


    “He told us he was in a previous experiment,” Ralph said. “Said the men need them more than the females, is all.”


    “I’ll go talk with him,” I said and whisked the sphere back into my inventory. Ralph sucked his teeth. I walked past him toward Jax, who now stood under the scaffolding to shield himself from the rain. Jax was standing alone, which made this conversation easier.


    “Hello, Jax?” I said. “I’m Madison.” He looked at me with a glance then averted his eyes. No reply.


    “So…Ralph told me you would like the strength spheres?” I asked, stepping closer to him. "From women only?"


    “Yes,” Jax said, looking at me through the soft rain shower. We locked eyes for a split moment, the boy’s gaze was hard and impatient before I looked away. “Perspective gave me a Misogynist affliction, which is bullshit because anyone can see plain as day that females don''t need strength.” He said, matter-of-factly. “Men are working hard and are superior for this kind of labor. You can climb aboard once we’re done but you’ll have to give up that strength sphere.”


    The words struck me like a slap in the face.


    “I feel like I earned it though.”


    “I don’t care how you feel. I mean look at you! You having any spheres, let alone a strength sphere would be an utter waste of resources.”


    I stepped back, stunned and offended. The world was always a cruel place. As a recluse, I had forgotten some of the bullshit you would deal with simply for being a woman, let alone a plus-sized woman. This short conversation with Jax confirmed my suspicions that nothing had changed. I continued stepping back, as another girl stepped forward and punched Jax right in the mouth. The foreman, dumbfounded by the power of the blow, stumbled and collapsed. The girl spat as he squirmed back, crawling away from her.


    “Who the hell do you think you are? Telling women to give their earnings away?” she said, voice piercing.


    “Whoa,” I said, looking at the girl. I couldn’t see her face very well under the equipment. The girl had dark brown skin and seemed brimming with confidence.


    “We’re all kids here, motherfucker” the girl said furiously, “and I’m not letting a man in a boy’s body or a boy in a man’s body, treat me like shit ever again.”


    “Hey!” Ralph said, running from behind us. “We need him! He’s helping us build the structure!”


    “We don’t need no man,” the girl said, “ladies! If you don’t want someone telling you to give away your strength, meet me over there, we can build on our own protection together.”


    The girl stamped off and I, as well as the other girls, followed. So that’s how it’s gonna be?


    A bunch of the girls stayed with Jax, sitting on the outskirts of where he, Ralph, and the other boys gathered. Jax was on his feet again, holding his mouth in the distance, as he glared in our direction. We walked about twenty feet away from the boys before we came to a stop.


    “Alright ladies, I’m Victory. I appreciate y’all standing with me on this. Does anyone have any experience with this construction stuff?” We had settled into a group of about a dozen, as the rain continued to fall around them creating soft pattering sounds.


    “I do,” A girl said, walking forward. She was short and thin, with glasses under her goggles, and a long blond fishtail braid peeking from the back of her hard hat. She looked intelligent rather than simply smart. “I’m Irene, a structural engineer. We should talk about the things that we got from Perspective first. I think that will help too.”


    “Good idea Irene,” Victory said. “Take it away.”


    “Yes, so first off, let me explain the spheres. This isn’t my first attempt at the experiment, I was knocked out of experiment seven in phase two and am just now returning.”


    A wave of fear washed over me. From experiment seven to experiment fifteen. How many years is that? Eight? What is this shit?


    “Spheres can be used in four ways,” Irene continued, “they can be used in full effect by bursting them and breathing in the fumes. They can be combined to make new spheres which can be a way to find spheres you may not be able to get during an activity, the third way to use them is passively, just sitting in the active inventory slot, you’ll pull some of the benefits. The last way, unfortunately, I haven’t discovered yet.”


    “Why can’t I get more than one strength sphere?” A girl asked, “It’s not gaining any more percentage.”


    “Ah, well that’s one way the beginner class is limited. You can only make one of each sphere right now. Grinding isn’t effective.” Irene said. “You’ll get more though. Different actions trigger new sphere growth so you’ll never know how you’ll develop one.” There were more hands raised to ask additional questions but Victory chimed in.


    “Thanks, Irene,” Victory said. “We need to get to work ladies, hold your questions until we get this sorted out! Any other ideas before we get started?”


    “I think we should break up into groups of three,” Irene said. “We have to form a team of three by the end of this anyway. It will also help us divide up the tasks.” She pointed at me since I was closest to them. “How about you join Victory and I?” Irene said.


    “Um, okay,” I said, walking toward them. “I’m Madison, nice to meet you.”


    Victory seemed to appraise her with a long glance.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    “So my Big-Three affliction this phase is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,” Irene said, “My first remedy is ‘fear of falling’ so I can hover.”


    “You have anything good, Madison?” Victory asked pointedly.


    “So, uh, I got a twelve-pack of tea as a birthday gift but my remedy isn’t really helpful. Hopefully, Perspective will give me something better in the future. But I do already have a strength sphere.”


    “Okay, before we get too comfortable, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Victory said. “No offense Madison, but,” The girl gave me a look from head to toe. I flushed with embarrassment and clenched my fist.


    “Wait, but I can work hard,” I said, looking between Victory and Irene. “This morbid obesity is the affliction that I had placed on me at the start of the phase.”


    Victory nodded, placing her hands on her hips. “It’s not about work ethic. I think you should keep delivering bricks. We,” she paused, her hands moving between Irene and herself, “need someone who''s a leader...I’m not getting that from you.”


    “But I can learn to lead,” I said. “I just need a chance.”


    “Sure you do,” Victory said, warily. “Look, it’s up to you, Irene, didn’t mean to offend you none, Madison.” I looked at Irene who was examining me like a damn Petri dish.


    “You’re right, Victory. I’m sorry Madison,” Irene said, “maybe find some other girls who wouldn’t mind taking you on. You can even wait on the side while we build, you’ll always be welcome.” Irene turned to another girl who stepped forward to take my place.


    ‘‘What the fuck,’’ I whispered, dragging my feet away from the three girls as they began talking strategy. There was a wound, I noticed, as I felt pain return, raw and cutting, deep in my chest. The rain continued to pour, heightening my feelings of sadness. I looked around to see complete trios had formed between the other girls in their group. “We don’t have enough space,” A girl said as I glanced at her standing alongside another.


    Planet Earth didn’t have enough space.


    There was a small collection of exposed soaked bricks sitting alone on the edge of the construction site. I sat down in that wetness, which was immediately noticeable on my bottom as it soaked through my overalls.


    I didn’t care.


    I sat in the storm for a while, as seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours. I passed the time by examining the progress of two growing structures as rainwater pelted the construction site. When I first started, I was surprised to see:


    (Minor Surveillance Sphere progress: 7%)


    As the new sphere charged it gave me something else to focus on. I took time to count just how many kids, or clients rather, there were. It took effort, but there were almost thirty clients evenly split between Jax and Victory who were moving frantically, working hard to help in some way. There were the brick gatherers, the cement collectors, and the structure makers. There were also a lot of kids, almost half of the workers, who were not helping at all. Ten or so had found their own places to sit and wait in the rain while others, with more mentally debilitating afflictions, were outright impeding the developments.


    They’re all shitty like me.


    I chuckled as I observed a girl stealing massive amounts of supplies, grabbing bricks, tools, even a few cans full of wet cement, and pilfering them away into her inventory. Lucky for the builders, new bricks and other necessities were generated by the VRAI system every couple of minutes. Damn. I hadn’t even considered putting the bricks in my inventory. Would have saved a ton of time transporting them that way.


    (Minor Surveillance Sphere progress: Complete!)


    (A Minor Surveillance Sphere has been added to your inventory.)


    I pulled the pink, smoke-filled sphere from my inventory to examine it before I tucked it away. I thought about what Irene said regarding the spheres. With little effort I made a mental note: Smash it to cash it, Combine it to refine it, fill it to feel it. I began tinkering with my inventory, filling the two spheres in my active inventory slots. There were four total slots and I was interested to see how the spheres could play a role in the next part of the first phase.


    The puddles of water in the site had become a shallow pool now, covering up to my ankles. I had my now nine-pack of AriZona’s Sweet Tea sitting on the bricks next to me along with two empty bottles. I pulled another free, tapped the plastic cap, then twisted it open. Guess I need to start figuring out which group I want to beg for a spot. I took a long sip of tea as I considered my options:


    Jax’s group had the larger structure so far, with bricks stacked in simple horizontal rows. They were forming a wide thick wall for them to stand on. It seemed sturdy, might need that sturdiness with all this damn weight. They were all boys though, so I figured that might be uncomfortable. And, they’ll want my strength sphere. I held up my chunky middle finger.


    Victory’s group seemed to struggle a bit more with building speed, but the attention to detail was evident in their meticulous development of an endless brick stairway with an intricate diamond-like pattern. Irene’s OCD must’ve been in overdrive. There were already so many steps…too many steps.


    It felt shameful that I hadn’t been able to help them build much yet I would still take up a place on one of their walls. I did try to help though. I felt another part of me that didn’t want to return to either of the two leaders. I considered going to no place at all, just sitting here and waiting for the water to rise, until it swallowed me in it.


    “Hey you,” a girl said from behind, “why were you staring at me earlier?” I turned to see the supplies thief crouching in a puddle. She had a mischievous face, a skinny girl with green eyes, and a shaved head.


    “I just thought it was funny,” I said with a smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t rat you out and cause problems.”


    “Well, here’s a tip. If you can lift it, you can lift it into your inventory,” she said with a smirk.


    “Now I want to know. How did you know I was watching you?”


    “I used my memory as soon as the phase started. It gave me a good advantage. Figured with my Big-Three affliction, kleptomania active, I would be screwed no matter what. Who trusts someone who constantly steals from them?”


    “You’re a klepto? Shit, that’s brutal,” Madison said, looking at the girl differently. “I’m morbidly obese.”


    “I noticed,” the girl said, “is that why they all kicked you out? I also saw you…trying to help those leaders, you’re hard to miss.”


    “So how did your memory help you see me spying on you?” The thief gave me a wistful smile and I understood I would never know how the hell that memory helped the girl.


    “I’m Rey, what’s your name?” She held out her hand. We were similar in some way, Rey and I, instantly untrustworthy to someone who didn’t understand how our afflictions made our lives difficult. Nearly impossible.


    “Madison,” I said, shaking her hand. Rey’s palms were coarse, one step away from sandpaper. Strange for hands that belonged to a girl.


    “Well Mads, I can call you Mads?” I nodded. First time for that nickname. Rey stood and then said, “You should use your memory.”


    “I was told that I shouldn’t use it unless there was an emergency,”


    “It is an emergency. I bet you’re doing exactly what you do in the real world when people treat you like shit. Nothing, right?”


    I felt flat-footed by the forwardness.


    “These clients don’t understand what they’re doing,” Rey said. “They’re leaning into their afflictions like they do in the real world, trying to tackle a virtual problem. This whole experiment is about perspective.” Rey tapped her temple when she said the word. “You only have one perspective right now, Mads.”


    “You’re right,” I said. “Thanks for the advice.” She nodded and walked away. I followed the girl with my eyes as she walked back towards the busy yard.


    “Oh, and sorry Mads,” Rey said, “I don’t even like sweet tea.” Then with a smile, the thief sprinted off into the commotion of a group of Jax’s kids trying to stop some twitchy kid from operating the crane.


    I frantically turned to my side. The eight bottles of sweet tea were gone, including the half-finished bottle I had just opened.


    “Son of a bitch!” I yelled as I stood from the bricks. I searched for Rey through the storm but the damned thief was nowhere to be seen. I sat back down on the wet bricks and shook my head. Be calm. She can’t help it, she can’t help it. “But next time I see her!” I belted over the constant pattering of rain. I shook my head and considered what Rey had said about the memory. The Perspective interface always floated in the corner of my view, I’d done a good job to ignore it.


    [ Beginner Class + Morbidly Obese ]


    [Team: 1 of 3]


    [ Remedies: 1 ]


    [ Inventory: 2]


    [m. str. sphere] [m. surv. sphere] [empty] [empty]


    [ Memories: 1 ]


    [ Missions : 0 ]


    [ Time until Phase One completion:40:24 ]


    View Memory.


    The world around me peeled away, as the soggy construction site rippled into darkness. There was a moment of total nothingness. I floated in the void, seeing nothing, feeling nothing, being nothing. Then everything rebuilt itself, images piecing together like fragments of torn paper perfectly reassembled. It was a sunny day in Hopkins, Minnesota. The warmth of the day felt amazing in contrast to the wet yard I’d been sitting in for hours now. As soon as I saw the memory, I remembered everything about it.


    It was my sixth birthday.


    The view of the memory was distorted. I had a bird''s eye view, floating above the scene, on the outside looking in. But if I focused, I could see the world from my six-year-old eyes, my childhood perspective. We were outside, Papa and I, as he guided me along on my new bike.


    Damn it. I miss him so much. One heart attack changed a million things.


    I examined myself, an adorable little girl who was closer in appearance to my VR self, rather than the pathetic version of myself in the real world. I was wobbly on the pink bike, scared shitless. Obviously way too big for it.


    Okay, what about this memory matters?


    I looked at my father, the large, wide-shouldered man smiling, walking in his t-shirt and slippers alongside me. Then I felt him too. I shifted into his worldview. There was no fear. No criticism. No doubts. He was showing his daughter how to grow, how to change, how to ride a bike. His smile was a wide and prideful one. Infectious. I felt myself start to smile hovering over the scene. Papa saw that his daughter was capable of doing good. She could do more with her life. He saw that she was capable of greatness.


    That I was capable of greatness.


    Even in me just riding this bike, I was more capable than he was at this point in his life.


    Because he knew he had Stage IV heart failure and I didn’t have a clue.


    Reality snapped back much faster than it left, I returned to the construction site, water dripping off my hard hat. My tears became one with the rain both falling together before I wiped my eyes.


    He knew he was dying. And he was hopeful in me. Pathetic, worthless, me.


    I blinked, taking a deep breath to refocus on the site. When I saw the clients, there was a noticeable difference. I felt for them the way my father had felt for me. My eyes widened as her mouth gaped open.


    They’re not worthless pieces of shit at all. None of them. They’re capable. Sitting on their unused remedies, memories, and spheres.


    “They’re capable of greatness,” I whispered.


    My vision flooded with a new purple message.


    [ New Mission - Connect with the Idle Clients - 0 / 10 ]


    A mission? So Perspective must have enjoyed the intense memory of my dying father. I shook my head as I stood from the bricks and walked in the direction of those clients. Not the hard-working groups of Jax and Victory, but the clients who were wasting away, doing nothing to help.


    Above there was a long beep.


    Hello clients! We can see a lot of you are working very hard out there! While some of you seem rather…stuck. Perspective has informed us it will begin its first escalation. There are a few of you out there with Aquaphobia, also known as Fear of Water…At the forty-hour mark, you’ll have the chance to defeat your fears. We can’t wait to see how Perspective will manifest this Physma in the experiment! I’ll inform you now, that the greater the affliction affects you, the bigger it’ll be.