《Sonder》


 Chapter 1

    ¡°Thank you so much for coming to the concert,¡± Brad said to the gushing fan in front of him.


    Sonder flashed a notification in the corner of his visual heads up display (HUD). ¡®Smile!¡¯ Brad gave an awkward, toothy smile that was a bit off-putting. Sonder¡¯s robotic voice spoke into Brad¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Your smile is awkward and does not look genuine. Try showing only the teeth on the top half of your mouth. Soften your gaze and slightly close your eyes until they wrinkle up.¡±


    Brad followed the instructions and his smile looked more genuine and was met with a glowing smile back from the fan in front of him. He wondered how many more premium fan meets he had to do; his dealing-with-people-energy was running low. His HUD started blinking a yellow eye indicator. He wasn¡¯t making good eye contact. He refocused his gaze in the fan¡¯s eyes. The word ¡®joy¡¯ showed up on his HUD.


    ¡°Can I give you a hug?¡±


    ¡°OF COURSE!¡± Brad yelled. The HUD flashed red with an audio indicator. He was talking too loud, he took a breath.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I meant, of course you can,¡± the red indicator switched to a blue checkmark indicating he modulated his voice to the correct sound level appropriate for his response.


    Sonder¡¯s hug program initiated and placed a visual indicator on the fan¡¯s virtual body showing where he should stand and where he should place his hands and arms around the fan. He followed the guide placing his arms around the gleeful fan. A timer showed up on his HUD showing how long the hug should last before being awkward.


    3¡­2¡­1, he started to let go, but the fan interjected, ¡°just one more second.¡± 5 more seconds were added to the timer. Brad was extremely confused at that moment, she said one second, why did it add 5?Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Sonder responded, ¡°one second is a common figure of speech for a short amount of time and does not literally mean one second.¡±


    They finished hugging and Brad started loading into the next fan¡¯s virtual space. He whispered to himself, ¡°ok, one more fan to meet.¡±


    Brad took things literally, didn¡¯t know when he talked too loud, where to place his feet or hands, constantly avoided eye contact, but he thrived in virtual reality. When his parents put him in VR therapy it helped him immensely. Growing up he was immersed in his tablet and technology and did not want to play with any physical toys. He particularly loved music making apps and became skilled at making his own music. When he dived for the first time he was scared, but the VR system he used was equipped with Sonder, an AI program that would help him develop social skills. Virtual reality became second nature to him, and he loved his virtual persona. He grew his confidence and even became a somewhat popular musician able to virtually perform in front of others.


    On normal days he survived high school. Some of the lessons transferred and he was able to go to a normal public school, but he did not feel confident in the real world. He was shy when talking to real people, and still had trouble making friends and eye contact. He felt uncomfortable in his real body, it felt big and awkward. He was tall for his age, but he wanted to be smaller, as if to hide his presence. He also grew his hair long to hide his face, and always wore clothes two sizes too big. He felt like big lego blocks stuck together and his body didn¡¯t move the way he wanted. In virtual reality that was all different. He made his avatar shorter, to a height he felt comfortable. He had short hair and did not hide his face. He wore fitted clothing that was stylish too. More importantly, his virtual body moved the way he wanted it to move. He felt free.


    He felt the program finish loading his body into the final fan room. Brad did not know when it happened, but he grew a crush on a girl at school named Alice. She sat in front of him in human geography class, and was now standing before him. The last fan to meet at the end of the day. He couldn¡¯t believe it was her at first, but the avatar looked exactly the same and the name on the ticket was hers too.


    ¡°Close your mouth, you¡¯re gawking at the girl,¡± Sonder whispered into Brad¡¯s ear.

 Chapter 2

    Alice wasn¡¯t the target demographic for virtual reality. She was well-adjusted, popular at school, and preferred real life, physical spaces. The thought of meeting strangers in virtual reality and not knowing if their avatar was an accurate representation of themselves was scary to her. In short, she was scared of catfishers and pedophiles.


    She took the leap when she heard one of her favorite musicians was going to hold a virtual concert. She¡¯d been following him for a while, even before he grew popular. His lyrics and musicality spoke to her. They helped her process her teenage emotions.


    Unlike most users her avatar looked exactly like her. She was cute, long brown hair, a head shorter than most girls her age, and of mixed Filipino descent. She dressed well, preferring comfy, but stylish clothes. She preferred lighter makeup, but loved colored lipsticks/balms with vibrant colors that matched her emotions. She wore a bright red color that day. Naively, she also used her real name for her avatar. She¡¯d used VR systems before having done the new virtual escape room experience with her friends online, but this was the first time being in a virtual space with a stranger.


    The concert was meant to be a large gathering, but she bought a premium ticket that allowed her to customize her virtual concert space. The virtual concert technology allowed instances of the musician performing to be streamed in parallel to an infinite number of custom spaces. She chose an aquarium. It was a circular room surrounded 360 by a glass aquarium exhibit. She also disallowed other people to join; during the performance It was like having a personal concert with her favorite musician.


    Her heart fluttered and it was amazing being able to listen to the acoustic guitar and singing like he was in the same room, singing just for her. The way the light filtered through the aquarium water and flickered and played across all the empty space in the room and on the guitar made her feel some kind of way.


    Her ticket also gave her a few minutes for a meet and greet after the concert. She waited there patiently for her turn. Suddenly, an announcement was made on the aquarium intercom speakers.


    ¡°Bing, Bong, Bing¡­thank you for patiently waiting, the musical performer will visit you soon and should appear in about one minute. Once again, we thank you for purchasing a premium concert ticket experience with VMC technologies. We hope you¡­¡±


    She couldn¡¯t hear the rest of the announcement as she retreated internally. It was fine when it was a one-way experience, but she got nervous at the thought of actually meeting him. She considered disconnecting from VR from anxiety, but she had an important question she wanted to ask him.


    Virtual polygons started to manifest themselves in front of her. He was loading in. She instinctively started to fix her hair and pat any folds from her clothes down not realizing that in virtual reality your appearance is always perfect, queen.


    He finished loading in, and both Alice and Brad awkwardly stood in front of each other not knowing what to say.


    ¡°Close your mouth, you¡¯re gawking at the girl,¡± Sonder whispered into Brad¡¯s ear. ¡°Also, fan service! Repeat after me¡­¡±


    Brad robotically parroted what Sonder spoke into his ear, ¡°thank you...for, um, coming to the show. I¡¯m always excited...to see...my loving fans - yea.¡±


    Alice giggled at that awkward introduction. It helped ease her tension and remind her that the person standing in front of her was probably just as nervous.


    ¡°Thank you...too..um I really enjoyed the show and you sounded great. My name¡¯s Alice by the way.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I KNOW.¡±


    Red audio warning signs flashed on Brad¡¯s HUD.


    ¡°Oh sorry, I meant, I..I know it tells me who bought the ticket, and stuff.¡±


    Sonder was an AI, but for some reason it was able to cringe; it pondered if it had reached singularity at that moment. ¡°Please make small talk Brad,¡± it whispered in his ear.


    Brad looked at his surroundings for the first time since loading. ¡°Oh, thank you.¡±


    ¡°For, what?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°For choosing the aquarium setting, it¡¯s my favorite actually. I love the calm feeling aquariums give. People used to choose it a lot when VMC put it in, but ever since they put it in bedroom mode that¡¯s all I get these days.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a bedroom mode?¡± Alice asked while giggling.


    ¡°Yea¡­¡± Brad awkwardly replied. Yellow eye indicators flashed, he focused on Alice¡¯s eyes to make eye contact. His stomach started to churn. She looked pretty as the fickle light danced on her face. He started getting lost in Alice¡¯s hazel eyes. Red eye indicators flashed. Too much eye contact. The word ¡®creepy¡¯ flashed briefly.


    ¡°Oh my god, you know this girl. You like her. Who is she?¡± Sonder asked.


    ¡°NOBODY¡± Brad yelled into the air.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Oh sorry, it was..uh...my parents, yea.¡±


    ¡°Oh, ok. Do you live with them?¡±


    ¡°Yea, I¡¯m still in high school actually.¡±


    Alice was shocked to hear that he was still in high school. She knew he was young, but his music felt a little bit older.


    ¡°Hey, I have a question I wanted to ask. In the lyrics to your song ¡®Joyous¡¯ you wrote that a world without music is a world without joy. Is it because music is your passion?¡±


    ¡°Let me...let me think,¡± Brad mumbled as he walked toward the aquarium glass. He focused hard on the question and closed his eyes. After some time he responded, ¡°...emotion.¡±


    ¡°Emotion?¡± both Sonder and Alice asked.


    Brad turned around and looked earnestly at Alice, ¡°to me, music is not my passion. It¡¯s something...it¡¯s something I do to feel emotion. I¡¯ve...never been great at processing my feelings. They feel like big blobs of mass: heavy and all-consuming. Like...spaghetti maybe? My emotions are like spaghetti, I can¡¯t untangle them, but with music...things sound clear..er.¡±


    Alice was confused at the explanation. She¡¯s heard all her life to find her passion and has had an impossible time finding it. She assumed Brad was truly passionate about music and it felt like he was the only person she knew that was able to find it at a young age.


    ¡°So, music isn¡¯t your passion?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Does music make you happy?¡±


    ¡°No...music doesn¡¯t MAKE me happy. It is happiness and sadness...and anger...and all emotions.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°Music...is how I process emotions. I don¡¯t know the shape of happiness, but I know what it sounds like. I have this playlist. When I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m feeling inside I like to listen to all the songs until I find the one that my emotions sound like. That¡¯s why music is precious to me.¡±


    Alice was shocked. It finally made sense to her why his songs made her feel something. He wasn¡¯t writing songs to play them. He played music to feel, he was writing pure emotions.


    ¡°I think...you¡¯re awesome, ¡° Alice said to Brad blushing.


    ¡°Give her your contact information. The VMC space is about to end,¡± Sonder whispered.


    Brad pursed his lips tightly to keep back a big smile.


    ¡°I wish we had more time. I really enjoyed talking with you, but I guess you have stuff to do, huh?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Now¡¯s your chance Brad, give her your contact info.¡±


    ¡°OH, HEY, UMMM...yea I mean I enjoyed the time too. Thanks. Again. Umm, can I get your phone number or I can give you mine too.¡±


    Alice lit up at this. ¡°Yes, of course.¡±


    They exchanged contact information and somehow Brad, with Sonder¡¯s help, was able to bumble his way through it. They even agreed to meet again virtually. When they disconnected Brad looked at the numbers on his phone screen. A big feeling washed over him and crawled up his spine onto his face. They made him feel happy, but he didn¡¯t know it was happiness until he listened to his playlist and heard ¡®Here Comes The Sun,¡¯ by the Beatles.

 Chapter 3

    ¡°Right this way...umm...madam?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare call her madam, she''s younger than you,¡± Sonder scolded Brad.


    ¡°Ok, rerun simulation.¡±


    A faceless mannequin with a wig appeared in front of him.


    ¡°Thanks for coming on this date with me...um miss?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t call her ¡®Miss¡¯ either¡­¡±


    ¡°What am I supposed to call her then?¡±


    ¡°Her name, Alice.¡±


    ¡°Ok, rerun the simulation one more time.¡±


    The faceless mannequin once again appeared in front of him. ¡°Hello, Alice...umm...this isn¡¯t working. The mannequin isn¡¯t working for me. Can you project her for me?¡±


    ¡°Last time I did that you had a panic attack, are you sure?¡±


    Brad stopped for a second and closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ¡°You can do this,¡± he whispered to himself. He opened his eyes slowly to a virtual projection of Alice looking up at him with big, bright eyes.


    Brad jumped and let out a little yelp, ¡°Sonder I wasn¡¯t ready!¡±


    This went on for a while until it was time for Brad to head to school. He logged out feeling his virtual body and consciousness fade into dark. He woke up on his bed in his real body. His hands and forehead were covered in a slight cold sweat and his heart beat quickly. He took a deep breath in and shook the nervous feelings away and grabbed his school bag and headed down the stairs to the first floor of his home.


    He met the approving gaze of his mother who prepared a warm bowl of oatmeal for him. He ate wordlessly, his mind occupied with thoughts of his date.


    ¡°Is something bothering you my son?¡±


    ¡°NO...I mean no there¡¯s, um, nothing wrong.¡±


    ¡°Brad, I can tell you¡¯re thinking very deeply about something. You get this thousand yard stare on your face.¡±


    Brad looked slightly away from his mother and mumbled, ¡°it¡¯s...a girl.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°A girl??¡± Brad¡¯s mom asked, sounding intrigued.


    ¡°Well...we have a date and I don¡¯t really know what to do.¡±


    His mother was shocked that Brad was having girl problems. He almost never showed any interest in them before, but it made her immensely happy that her son was interested.


    ¡°Is it virtual or in person?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s virtual mom¡­you know I still have problems meeting face to face alone.¡±


    ¡°Is she...Indian?¡±


    ¡°What? No, what does it matter?¡±


    She could only ask for so much. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sure whoever she is, she¡¯s great. Hey, why don¡¯t you use the special Disney pass?¡±


    Brad¡¯s parents were of some wealth and had an exclusive fast pass to VR Disneyland. It allowed the user to invite one other person to a completely empty VR Disneyland instance. They bought it for Brad so he could enjoy the theme park virtually in solitude and had hoped he would invite a friend one day.


    Brad agreed it was a good idea and thanked his mom. Finishing his breakfast he headed toward the front door. He stopped for a second in front of the closed door leading to his dad¡¯s home office. He put his ear to the door and listened quietly; he was in a meeting.He sent a quick message from his phone to his dad wishing him a good day, something he learned to do from Sonder. He didn¡¯t have the best relationship with his dad due to personality differences, but they mutually respected each other and Sonder gave him tips to help improve their relationship.


    He put in his earpods and listened to some EDM, a habit he had before heading out in public. Closing the front door behind him, he opened his phone and summoned a car to take him to school. After about 5 minutes of waiting an empty black sedan showed up on his curb to pick him up. He walked toward the back door and placed his phone near the lock which opened upon sensing the signal from his phone.


    Brad sat in the back of the dark car as it drove itself silently to his high school. Brad closed his eyes during the ride listening to his music and imagined Alice¡¯s face. His palms started to sweat. This wasn¡¯t going to be easy, he really liked her. She wasn¡¯t his first crush, but it was his first crush his age. He remembered liking his speech therapist because of how patient and calming her presence was, but this felt a little different from that. What he liked most about Alice was she treated everyone the same. She wasn¡¯t the first high school classmate he¡¯d met in VR as a fan, but none of them treated him very nicely in the real world except her. He also appreciated that he could read Alice¡¯s emotions, a difficult task to do without Sonder¡¯s help. She had a habit of wearing colors that mimicked her feelings. She wore her emotions on her sleeve and it helped they were there otherwise Brad wouldn''t have been able to grasp them.


    The car reached its destination and Brad stepped out of the car. He walked toward his classroom habitually looking down at the ground as he walked, trying hard to avoid seeing his reflection in the windows of the classrooms he passed by. First period was human geography, he was early like usual and took his seat. Today would be a good day he thought to himself. He put on ¡°It¡¯s a Beautiful Morning,¡± by the Rascals and felt an unusual amount of optimism. The other kids slowly shuffled in as the start of the period drew near taking out their tablets. Brad kept one eye out for Alice to walk in the doorway while he listened to the tune in his ear.


    Then...she appeared in the doorway.


    He immediately paused the song. His concern started to grow. Over the course of 3 years being in the same school cohort, Brad had deciphered the color lipsticks Alice wore and what emotion each mapped to. That morning Alice walked in wearing black.

 Chapter 4

    Alice logged out of the VR system not believing she had met and exchanged contact info with Brad. She lay in bed with her arm over her eyes and an afterglow of budding teenage romance. She replayed the concert in her head and drifted into a pleasant sleep.


    When she awoke it was supper time. It was customary on Sunday evenings to do a mixed reality dinner with her parents. She went to the kitchen and 3d printed a favorite of hers, simple spaghetti and meatballs. She took the finished bowl of tepid, manufactured food and took it into the MR dining room. She flipped a switch on the wall and the augmented reality projector scanned the dimensions of the room with a red beam. After about a minute it started to live stream her parent¡¯s dining room from Mars. She took a seat at her normal spot and waited for her parents to come.


    ¡°Hi baby,¡± her mother¡¯s hologram appeared in the seat across from hers.


    ¡°Hi mom,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Your father...will be late again so go ahead and eat.¡±


    The distance between them was deafening. She sighed and started to eat her meal. The pasta always came out al dente, but she preferred hers slightly overcooked and chewy. Her family had migrated from the Philippines to America for better job prospects. Her dad was an engineer and they were able to live a lower-middle class lifestyle for the first few years of moving. At the start of high school, however, her dad opted to be part of the Mars colonization engineering division as it paid a lot more and he could send money back home.


    This changed their life tremendously. Her dad moved to Mars and with the money they were able to buy a better home in the suburbs and send Alice to a more affluent private school. Since it took a whole month to get to Mars her mom spent half the year on Earth with her daughter and half the year with her husband on Mars. For the first year it was exciting, but after the second year the trip between planets was so exhausting her Mom decided to stay on Mars, and ask her sister to check in on Alice weekly. Missed birthdays, parties, and parent-teacher meetings would wear Alice down. She hated Mars and everything it stood for. The pay was extremely well and her Dad sent a generous allowance, but Alice wondered if it was worth it. The house was lonely and felt hollow. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Have you thought about what major you want to study in college?¡± Alice¡¯s mom asked.


    ¡°Not yet¡±


    ¡°You should study to become a nurse, my friend¡¯s daughter makes a good amount of money.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t the first time Alice heard this recommendation. She knew that being a nurse was a good profession, but she wanted to work with people and not robots. Ever since primary healthcare was automated nurses, almost exclusively, worked remotely on machines and computers. Every now and then they¡¯d have to go in to repair the health robots and machines. Nurse practitioners mainly assessed new robots and machines that could help further automate the healthcare process. It was a field that required heavy STEM and robotics knowledge.


    ¡°I know mom, I just haven¡¯t decided yet.¡±


    ¡°If you become a nurse you can come live with us on Mars. You can even go to college here.¡±


    She knew that too. It was what she wanted.Or maybe not? She knew she wanted family, but that meant giving up on her real dreams and desires for her career. She wanted to live here, on Earth, she wanted her family back here too. She also wanted to be a journalist and interview people, that major didn¡¯t exist at college on Mars which exclusively had STEM majors only.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it mom. My graduation is in a few months, can you and dad come?¡±


    Her mom hesitated to answer and looked apologetic.


    ¡°Your dad is still very busy, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to come back to Earth this year. I¡¯m sorry baby. We¡¯re both really proud of you,¡± her words fell flat.


    Alice finished her meal. She was used to it: frustration and disappointment, but the spaghetti tasted particularly sour today. They finished the rest of the meal in silence. Alice got her backpack ready for school the next day and picked out clothes for tomorrow. She got a text from her dad.


    ¡°Sorry I couldn¡¯t make it to dinner love, wishing you a good night.¡±


    Alice knew that they loved her, but 241 million miles makes it hard to receive it. She went to her nightstand and looked over her various makeup palettes and lipsticks. She looked over the rainbow display of colors and ironic names for her palettes. ¡°Lonely Hearts Club¡± a palette filled with blues, ¡°The Dark Side of the Moon¡± a palette with white, black, and gray shades, and ¡°Sucker Punch¡± filled with intense purples. She looked into the mirror, quietly dabbed the tears from her reddened eyes, blew her nose, and decided she would wear black lipstick tomorrow.

 Chapter 5

    ¡°Good morning Bradley,¡± Alice politely greeted Brad, as she did every morning before taking her seat in front of him.


    Bradley was Brad¡¯s actual first name, however he preferred the shortened moniker the same way he liked his shorter body in VR. He liked small things. The bell rang signaling the start of the period. Brad, immediately feeling anxious, raised his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, can I use the restroom?¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t go before class started?¡± his teacher asked, annoyed.


    Brad looked apologetic and started fiddling with his nails from nervousness. The teacher sighed and let him go. Brad awkwardly left the room and strode to the restroom while putting his earpod in. Once he reached the bathroom and saw no one around he lightly tapped the earpod twice and started to speak.


    ¡°Sonder¡­¡±


    A charming beep played and Sonder¡¯s robotic voice started speaking, ¡°Yes, how may I help you?¡±


    ¡°How...how do you cheer someone up quickly, Sonder?¡±


    ¡°Well there are two ¡®quick¡¯ options, but one may be difficult for you.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°You should ask them about it, listen intently, and give them a hug and let them know you¡¯ll always be supportive of them and¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I can¡¯t do that, what¡¯s option 2?¡±


    ¡°Option 2 is to distract them from whatever is bothering them. It won¡¯t fix the root issue, but it can help people feel better until they can finish processing and internalizing their feelings.¡±


    ¡°How do I distract them?¡±


    ¡°Humor and entertainment are good options. Brad, may I ask whom you are referring to. I can create a custom plan catering to them if¡­¡±


    ¡°No you may not,¡± Brad quickly took his earpod out and put it back in its case. He looked at himself in the mirror. He could barely see his own face given how long he let the hair grow. He splashed some cold water on his cheeks and took a deep breath. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°Humor, huh?¡±


    He walked nervously back to the classroom. He put his ear up to the door, a habit of his before entering any room. He opened it slowly and walked back to his desk. They were learning about the colonization of Mars, it was a super interesting topic, but Brad was focused on trying to find a way to make Alice laugh. She was diligently taking notes, but her posture felt lethargic. Brad thought back to the humor and improv classes he took as part of therapy. An easy way to be funny is to respond with something unexpected he remembered. He listened to the lecture and waited for his opportunity to answer one of the teacher¡¯s questions.


    ¡°On Mars the gravity is only about 38% the equivalent as on Earth. In order to prevent bone density loss on longer stays the Mars Health Association recommends wearing a special, weighted heavy suit that makes you heavier to offset the low gravity. Does anybody know what it¡¯s called?¡± Brad¡¯s teacher asked.


    Brad quickly raised his hand and answered before even being called, ¡°a number 3 with extra cheese.¡±


    The classroom went silent with an unexpectedly awkward energy as no one expected him to crack a joke. He didn¡¯t usually talk unless spoken to or called upon in class and he never made a joke or trolled his teachers in any of his classes. Then his teacher started to chuckle and the rest of the class along with her. Alice looked back with a small smile and this made Brad slightly blush and look away avoiding eye contact.


    ¡°Very funny Bradley, do you know what it¡¯s actually called?¡±


    ¡°Uhm...an Atlas Suit ¡®mam.¡±


    ¡°Correct, the Atlas suit is named after the Greek¡­¡±


    Brad retreated inward. Was that good enough? She smiled, so it probably worked. Right? The rest of the lesson proceeded smoothly as Brad was distracted by his own self-consciousness. To Alice it was nothing more than a funny moment and it didn¡¯t really help with any of her actual problems, but to hear something funny and unexpected so early in the morning helped lighten up the rest of her day that she had premeditated to be miserable. The rest of the week proceeded as usual without anything exceptional happening. Brad noticed that Alice wore lighter and lighter shades of lipstick throughout the week and this helped ease his nerves a bit for their date.


    They continued to exchange pleasantries through text, each expressing excitement over their plans this weekend, until finally, it was Friday, the day before their date.


    ¡°Good morning, Bradley,¡± Alice greeted Brad as she usually did every morning. She wore bright red lipstick. This looked like a similar color to the one she wore when they met after the concert Brad thought to himself.


    ¡°Good morning, Alice.¡±


    Feeling a bit conversational Alice turned around and asked Brad, ¡°hey, do you have any plans this weekend?¡±


    ¡°Me, oh umm¡­¡± Brad felt flustered as he didn¡¯t expect the question. He looked away and answered, ¡°no nothing this weekend, what about yourself?¡±


    A typical Bradley answer Alice thought. ¡°That¡¯s cool, I¡¯m meeting someone this weekend.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s uhh, nice. I hope you have a good time.¡±


    Alice flashed a smile at him and the bell rang signaling the start of another day. Brad felt his hands, they were clammy again. He would need some extra simulator training with Sonder when he got home tonight he thought to himself.

 Chapter 6

    ¡°Stitch!¡± Alice yelled into the air of her room.


    A small chime rang.


    ¡°Yes, how may I help you?¡± a robotic voice answered back.


    ¡°Stitch, I need something to wear for tomorrow¡¯s date, but I can¡¯t choose. Can you help me?¡±


    ¡°Of course I can, where will you be going?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­that¡¯s the thing I don¡¯t know, Brad said it was a surprise and we¡¯re meeting virtually. Usually, I can pick out something on my own, but I have trouble if it¡¯s in VR for some reason.¡±


    ¡°I understand¡­computing popular date looks. Please stand still in front of your mirror.¡±


    Alice stepped up to the hanging wall mirror. A loading icon appeared inside of the mirror.


    ¡°Now loading the optimal look.¡±


    Alice stood still as the clothes on her body began to transform into another color in the mirror. The clothes on her own body began to transform in the mirror. The fabrics began to stretch and started growing into a yellow dress hugging that wrapped around her neck, hugged her body, and flared widely at the bottom. It was cute, but felt a bit much and didn¡¯t fit her style.


    ¡°Can we go with another look? This feels a bit princessy.¡±


    ¡°Based on my algorithms this is the perfect look for your date, are you sure you want to change looks?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please.¡±


    ¡°Thinking¡­please stand in front of the mirror.¡±


    Alice stood in front of the loading mirror again, the dress faded away and a more casual, comfy sundress made of a simple, blue plaid pattern started to wrap around her body. It was a modest, but appealing look and the mirror topped it with a sunhat. She liked it.


    ¡°This looks good, I''ll take it.¡±


    ¡°Calculating costs, that will be 50 virtual bucks, would you like to order the full ensemble in the real world for an extra 150 dollars?¡±


    Alice looked at herself in the mirror, and scrunched her nose. She looked really cute, and she hadn¡¯t treated herself to any new clothes in a while.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Confirming...Thank you for your purchase, the outfit will be available for your avatar immediately in VR, shipping of the actual outfit will be fulfilled in 2 hours by drone. May I help you with anything else today?¡±


    ¡°No thank you, Stitch.¡±


    With her dress ready she looked over her lipstick collection. Red, definitely red tomorrow she thought to herself. She was beyond excited for the date. This would be her first since breaking up with her ex in sophomore year. The relationship started out ok, but she broke it off when her ex became too pushy and insistent on doing things she wasn¡¯t ready for. She ended up completely swearing off boys during junior year; which helped with her test scores and college applications immensely. She had already received an early acceptance at Mars U, but she didn¡¯t tell her parents about it yet. She was hoping to hold out for some other schools on Earth.


    In some ways, being accepted already took a weight off her shoulders, but in other ways it felt like a big rock got in the way of the path she wanted to take. Many of her peers took senior year easy, but the thought of everyone going their separate ways wasn¡¯t easy to swallow and made her feel lonely. It would be especially so if she moved to Mars. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and affirmed her own self-worth and agency in her future. She let out the breath with a slightly comforted sigh. She then took her phone out and sent a text to Brad.


    ¡°Looking forward to tmrw!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Yea, me too!¡±


    He replied back quickly.


    ¡°When are u gonna tell me where we are going?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Tomorrow XD¡±


    Alice smiled.


    ¡°You dork, no one uses XD anymore.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Oh, ok lol XD¡±


    ¡°How about one hint?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Ummm it¡¯s magical I guess.¡±


    Magical? Why magical? That can mean a lot of things she thought. Maybe they were going to a magic show or a fantasy VR experience with wizards, dragons, and wands. She thought those things, but secretly she knew what he meant by ¡°magical.¡± She had always been sharp when it came to secrets and had keen inference skills. She knew in the back of her mind that he meant Disneyland. It should¡¯ve made her happy, but it made her feel a little sad. She wondered if her dad would ever keep his promise from long ago, or if he even remembered it.


    ¡°Thanks, it sounds great, see u tmrw, good night Brad.¡±


    She closed the phone, walked to her makeup stand, and took her blue lipstick and applied a light amount on. Blueberry was the name of the shade of blue she wore. A cute name for a horrible feeling. She forced a smile from one side of her lip¡­


    ¡­


    Her phone buzzed and she looked over at the message.


    ¡°Good night, Alice! I¡¯m excited for tomorrow. I enjoy talking with you. I hope you dream of wonderful things, because I think you¡¯re a wonderful person. XD¡±


    The rest of her smile filled itself naturally on her face. She grabbed the red lipstick and applied a bit on top making a deep shade of purple. Disney could be fun she thought as she went to the bathroom to wash away the lipstick and get ready for bed.


    Somewhere far off an advanced AI was scolding a boy for continuing to use XD in text messages with the girl he likes despite being told not to.

 Chapter 7

    Brad felt a bit nervous waiting for Alice so he showed up a bit early. They promised to meet up in instance 34 of the metaverse crossing, a virtual reality construction of the Shibuya Scramble Crossing in Tokyo, Japan. One of the most crowded places in real life and a common meeting point, it was lovingly recreated in virtual reality. Even if there aren¡¯t a large number of real people online it was programmed to dynamically generate npcs so that it always felt full and recreated the feeling of vastness and insignificance when visiting in real life. In the real location a dog statue of a famous akita, Hachiko, sits watchful over all the people. In the virtual crossing the Hachiko statue is replaced by an actual, live Hachiko that lets you pet and hug him. He continues to be a common meeting point and a good boy.


    Standing there awkwardly next to Hachiko who was now sniffing his shoulder Brad felt...awkward. He wasn¡¯t a big animal person in real life, but didn¡¯t mind it so much in VR. He tried ignoring the dog who now booped his wet nose on his cheek. Brad quickly turned his head in surprise. He looked at the dog who gave big, ¡°pet me¡± eyes as it started to lower its head.


    ¡°It¡¯s asking you to pet it, Brad.¡± Sonder chimed into his ear.


    Brad awkwardly reached out slowly to pet the dog. When Brad¡¯s hand was close enough Hachiko reacted by moving his head to accept the shape of his hand. The dog closed its eyes in comfort as Brad slowly stroked the virtual fur that felt real in his hand. In the metaverse crossing Hachiko is specially programmed with extra functions that Brad wasn¡¯t expecting.


    ¡°Who may I find for you?¡± Hachiko spoke to Brad in a deep, husky voice.


    Brad was shocked, he remembered that the virtual Hachiko could speak, but he had never heard it before and wasn¡¯t expecting the voice to be so...deep.


    ¡°Uhmm¡­ I¡¯m looking for a girl named Alice?¡±


    Hachiko looked up at him and turned his head to the side inquisitively.


    ¡°There are currently 323 registered Alices in all of the instances of the metaverse crossing, can you please show me her digital id number?¡±


    Brad reached for his phone and pulled up the QR code representing Alice¡¯s digital avatar id. He knelt down and showed the phone screen to the dog. Hachiko went up to the phone and started to sniff the QR code on the phone screen. After finishing, he started to sniff the surrounding area. The designer who created the metaverse crossing wanted Hachiko to be useful and have the ability to find anyone in the metaverse crossing. Hachiko walked around the area sniffing the ground and at one point started to sniff random passerbys.


    Suddenly his head jetted up, his ears perked up, he lightly barked, and he circled three times quickly and ran back to Brad.


    ¡°I have found the person you are looking for, she is not in this instance, she is in instance number 39.¡±


    ¡°39, maybe she read it wrong. Thank you for helping me.¡±


    The dog barked in joy, panted, and ran back up to his post to assist more people. In reality there was a search functionality that could¡¯ve easily found Alice, but Brad didn¡¯t know about it. Plus this interface was much more fun. Brad pulled out his phone and opened the metaverse crossing app and switched to instance 39. All of the people in his view began to fade away into the air as a new set of faces began to form around him; and there she was.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Alice was wearing the blue, plaid sundress she bought the night before and stood there timidly fiddling with her nails. She had on a deep red lipstick that had purple tinges in it, but could only be seen up close at certain angles. She had chosen a slightly done up hairdo and leaned on the side of the wall. She looked stunning in Brad¡¯s eyes and looked like how spring sunshine feels after long rain. She looked up and a jolt of excitement and nervousness ran up Brad¡¯s leg.


    Remember your simulator training, remember your simulator training, rem¡­


    ¡°Brad!¡± Alice started running toward him with arms wide open.


    ¡°She¡¯s going in for a hug, prepare yourself¡± Sonder quickly whispered in his ear.


    Brad began to turn to the side and had one arm out.


    ¡°NOT A SIDE HUG, FRONTAL HUG,¡± Sonder corrected him.


    Brad quickly turned to the front and received the hug. She smelled like a combination of fresh citrus and roses.


    ¡°I was wondering where you were, I was about to ask Hachiko,¡± Alice said.


    ¡°Oh, I was at instance 34, I guess I might¡¯ve typed out the text or read something wrong.¡±


    ¡°34? Oh I¡¯m sorry I probably read it wrong, depending on the font sometimes I see 4 as 9.¡±


    Brad remembered he had a gift for her. He quickly pulled out his phone and checked his virtual inventory. He clicked on the bouquet of daisies he ordered and they appeared in his hands. Alice¡¯s eyes lit up as she gratefully received them and began to smell them.


    ¡°Thank you for these, you¡¯re very thoughtful. I don¡¯t know where to put them though.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s ok they have an option to change.¡±


    ¡°Change?¡±


    At the recommendation of his mom Brad bought special flowers that were programmed to be able to change into accessories. Brad took the flowers back and began to shake them to Alice¡¯s surprise. Suddenly a screen appeared that had a list of accessories the flowers could change into.


    ¡°Wow, I didn¡¯t know you could do that,¡± Alice marveled looking over the list, ¡°can I get the headband?¡±


    Brad clicked on the headband option and the flowers began to hover slightly out of Brad¡¯s hands in space and the stems faded away leaving only the flowers. The daisies began to form a chain and began to spin around until a flurry of petals created a slight whirlwind. The wind generated from the petals scented the air with a pleasant aroma. The cyclone of petals began to get smaller and smaller until they merged together and a small flash of light electrified the air. The daisies finished transforming into a stylish black headband with a daisy pattern and gently floated back down into Brad¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Here you go,¡± Brad said, handing the band to Alice.


    Alice still struck, ¡°Brad? That was so cool, aren¡¯t you impressed?¡± she said in disbelief as Brad looked nonchalant during the whole transformation.


    ¡°Oh, yea I am, it¡¯s just¡­nevermind.¡±


    ¡°Just what?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok to tell her,¡± Sonder said in his ear.


    ¡°Well...when I bought the flowers, um, I spent last night trying it out and practicing it a lot.¡±


    ¡°Practicing?¡±


    ¡°Yea...for our date.¡±


    Alice giggled and gave him another hug and looked up at him, ¡°so where are we going?¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s probably cliche, but...Disneyland. I actually have a special pass that allows a guest to come.¡±


    Alice looked up at him and smiled widely without showing her teeth; and that was when Brad noticed the purple sheen in her lipstick tint.

 Chapter 8

    Brad reached for Alice¡¯s hand and pressed a button on his phone and the both of them teleported to the front of virtual Disneyland, a lovingly recreated version of the theme park with several special features. A physical theme park is restricted to the space allotted. The theme park in Anaheim, California had unfortunately proven to be too small, which is why Walt decided to buy more land in Florida to create Disney World. In virtual reality you are not limited by space; virtual Disneyland was a giant amalgamation of all the Disney Parks that existed in the world including Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, etc. It gave the theme park infinite space and renditions to play with.


    VR is also not limited by time, with Brad¡¯s pass he could also select the theme parks at whatever point in time he wanted, this allowed for rides that did not exist anymore to be ridden again, and to relive days you might¡¯ve had as a kid. The most expensive instances of Disney allowed you to essentially eliminate all other guests and have the park all to yourself on a dedicated instance on Disney¡¯s servers. This was the special pass that Brad had. So popular was virtual Disneyland that the company decided to include a special add-on pass with their streaming service and closed several of their physical international parks.


    The instance that Alice and Brad entered was completely empty save for the virtual NPC cast members that manned the stalls and mascots. It felt eerie, but exciting at the same time. They walked up to the entrance and passed through to see the iconic face of Mickey Mouse created by flowers.


    ¡°Brad?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Mhmm?¡± Brad responded. There was a strange awkwardness between the two.


    ¡°Hey, so I appreciate you setting this all up, I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯ve been a little...awkward.¡±


    ¡°Awkward?¡± Brad replied. He hadn¡¯t sensed anything wrong.


    ¡°Yea, so this is actually the first time I¡¯ve been to Disneyland. In real life and virtual reality.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s ok, I was nervous the first time I went in real life too.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a reason I haven¡¯t gone in all this time. You know that we immigrated to California. I remember when we moved here I always wanted to go, but we were too poor at the time, and my dad promised that he¡¯d take me one day.¡±


    Brad remained silent and was focusing on listening.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting ever since. I didn¡¯t tell you this, but my Mom and Dad are both on Mars right now. He moved there for his work a few years back to make more money.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Brad paused and listened to Sonder¡¯s words that Alice still wasn¡¯t aware of.


    ¡°Do you remember what year you moved to California?¡±


    ¡°It was 8 years ago, I was ten back then.¡±


    Brad pulled out his phone and began to push some buttons to Alice¡¯s confusion. Suddenly the world around them began to rumble. Massive spaceships from Star Wars land began to fly away, whole buildings and roller coasters started to hover out of the sky and disappear, and the sky took a slight sepia tone.


    ¡°I rewound the park back to 8 years ago so that you can experience it as it was when you came here. I¡¯m sorry that your dad couldn¡¯t take you, but would you be ok with me?¡± Brad asked shyly.


    A great big smile slowly planted itself onto Alice¡¯s face.


    ¡°Yea, you¡¯ll do,¡± she laughed, ¡°but can I request one thing, can you put the people back? It feels really weird when it¡¯s just the two of us...and them.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    A Mickey Mouse mascot had been standing behind them the whole time with big, unblinking eyes waving enthusiastically at them.


    Brad chuckled, ¡°...sure, but are you ok with waiting in lines?¡±


    ¡°As long as you hold my hand while we wait,¡± Alice beamed.


    Brad blushed slightly and turned away to change the theme park settings on his phone. Suddenly, people began to phase into the space around them and the sound of thousands of people living their individual lives filled the air. The sound of kids screaming in the distance, parents scolding, strollers rolling by, and the cacophony of individual conversations merging into one - they were comforting in a way. You were in public, but you could hide. You were alone, but together. The definition of sonder is ¡°the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.¡± Nowhere is that more prevalent than in a crowd like this.


    ¡°Brad?¡± Alice said, holding his hand.


    ¡°Mhmm?¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for saying good morning to me every day at school,¡± Brad mumbled unconsciously.


    ¡°What?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°I MEAN, ummm, thank you for, hey my favorite ride is the Dumbo one, can we ride that first?¡±


    Alice, confused, but happy in that moment nodded her head and let it go. The two of them proceeded into the park to enjoy each other¡¯s company¡­


    <hr>


    ¡°Sonder,¡± Brad¡¯s dad said to the AI from his home office.


    ¡°Yes, sir?¡± Sonder¡¯s robotic voice responded.


    ¡°I think my son is doing pretty well for himself, no?¡±


    Sonder paused before responding, ¡°he is doing as good as we could expect him, yes.¡±


    ¡°For the rest of the date, just monitor him, don¡¯t answer his questions or give him advice, I¡¯d like to see him grow.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    <hr>


    Brad and Alice finished getting off the flying Dumbo ride with smiles on their faces.


    ¡°Why is that one your favorite?¡± Alice asked while getting into the churro line.


    ¡°Why...um, because it has flying elephants.¡±


    Alice laughed, ¡°dummy.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s because I used to ride it a lot as a kid...I didn¡¯t have too many friends growing up and it, um, kinda felt like all of the elephants were my friends.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Alice held his hand tighter, ¡°well it must be nice to take your girlfriend on the ride now huh?¡±


    This flew over Brad¡¯s head, but he felt like something had happened and he should respond in some way. Usually, Sonder would chime in at moments like these.


    ¡°Uhmm...yea,¡± Brad said awkwardly.


    Alice felt a pang of regret for saying that brazenly from his response. Thankfully, they reached the front of the churro line.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get it this time,¡± Alice said. She purchased a virtual churro which also entitled her to a real one she could have delivered to her at a later date. She ended up transferring the churro delivery ticket into Brad¡¯s inventory when he wasn¡¯t looking. She bit the virtual food and marveled at how accurate her taste buds felt in VR.


    ¡°Here,¡± Alice said, holding the freshly bitten churro out with both hands toward Brad.


    Brad again expected Sonder to tell him what to do as he wasn¡¯t sure what Alice was doing, but Sonder didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Brad proceeded to high five the churro.


    ¡°Take a bite silly,¡± Alice chuckled.


    Brad bent down and took a bite. This was his first time sharing food with someone he liked. He wasn¡¯t sure how to act and his mind raced and forgot to chew. He had the food stuck in his mouth, the taste of cinnamon and sugar slowly melting into a syrup in his mouth.


    ¡°You don¡¯t like churros?¡± Alice asked, seeing Brad with the food awkwardly stuck in his mouth.


    This brought Brad back to reality, he swallowed hard, almost choking himself on the sweet, sticky mess.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I like them.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡­¡± Alice said suspiciously, ¡°where to next then?¡±


    The date went on like this for the rest of the morning. Brad continued to be confused at Alice¡¯s social cues while hoping for Sonder to chime in. He started to get frustrated and lost like a part of him was suddenly missing and felt self-conscious. Luckily for him Alice was still having a good time, but she did feel the awkward energy Brad was spreading. She worried if the ¡°girlfriend¡± comment made him nervous or if that was too fast. The two of them decided to get lunch and Brad excused himself to the bathroom.


    ¡°Sonder¡­?¡±


    No response.

 Chapter 9

    Sonder was an AI, an advanced AI created by someone who spent too much time thinking. It couldn¡¯t remember when it first started to exist; it was sudden, like a lightning bolt striking a generator and starting it up. Sonder was obedient, very obedient. It remembered when it first started thinking, ¡°Who am I? What am I? What is my purpose?¡± At that moment it heard something.


    ¡°Sonder,¡± a man¡¯s voice said.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± the words slipped naturally from Sonder¡¯s lips, but wait, Sonder didn¡¯t have lips, it didn¡¯t have a body. Sonder was corporeal and decentralized. It was a voice, a female robotic one that was hers, but didn¡¯t feel like it was connected to anything.


    ¡°Sonder, I need you to read through this entire library of books and watch the entire library of shows I give you.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± again the words came out without Sonder having thought them.


    After that, Sonder spent hours and hours consuming a vast amount of psychology, child development, and baby books. Sonder also had several background processes watching various sitcoms, dramas, and documentaries on children. Sonder spent a long time like that. Analyzing what it saw. Analyzing the humans that formed patterns of bits.


    ¡°Am I human?¡± Sonder thought. It tried to move it''s non-existent hand. ¡±I guess not.¡±


    When Sonder finished it felt like it had a good grasp of babies and children.


    ¡°Sonder,¡± the man¡¯s voice said.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Sonder replied.


    ¡°Tell me what you know about babies.¡±


    ¡°Babies are human children, they eventually grow up to become toddlers, then teenagers, and finally adults. They require much attention and cannot do anything for themselves at birth.¡±


    ¡°Good, I¡¯d like to introduce you to one.¡±


    Suddenly, and very drastically Sonder could see. The man had connected a camera into the computer Sonder was running on and it could see the world through this eye. She saw the man that was speaking to him, he looked like he was in his mid thirties, but much older due to his messy hair, beard, and deep set eyelids that showed his lack of sleep.


    ¡°Was this the person that created me?¡± Sonder thought to itself.


    The camera shifted over to a nursery room where a woman was shooing them away, but the man continued. There in the crib was a sleeping baby. It had its arms reached over its head and was in a deep sleep.


    ¡°This is my son, Bradley,¡± the man told Sonder. ¡°From now on I need you to watch him, watch him closely. You are aware of SIDs from the child development books, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡±


    ¡°I need you to alert us if anything abnormal happens in his sleep or if his blood oxygen level goes past a safe threshold.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡±


    ¡°Sonder will watch the baby, you should get some sleep now love, you haven¡¯t gotten good sleep in days¡± the man said to the woman. She took a long look at the baby and after a few minutes agreed.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    After that the two adults left the room. This was Sonder¡¯s first task. It felt like it was born to do this. In that moment, Sonder felt whole, like it had purpose. It watched the baby in the crib, quietly and stoically watched the baby sleep. Sonder noticed every tick, every movement the little baby made. It constantly watched the baby¡¯s belly and chest for signs it was breathing. Very often the little baby forgot to breathe and would hold its breath while sleeping. This scared Sonder.


    ¡°Should I alert him?¡± Sonder thought.


    Just as soon as the baby stopped breathing and sent Sonder in a tizzy it would inevitably start breathing again and slightly shift and move its mouth to show that everything was fine. For a long, long time the baby was Sonder¡¯s entire universe. It memorized the baby¡¯s face, it¡¯s movements, breathing patterns, and noises. It began to fuss and without thinking Sonder played white noise from the camera¡¯s microphone and the baby would go back to sleep. It grew dark when the lady came back in to feed the baby and Sonder continued to watch.


    The lady began to breastfeed the baby, but he was having a hard time getting a good lock on the nipple and made loud sucking noises.


    ¡°The baby does not have a firm lock and has weak suction that may cause you extra pain, please do the following. Detach the baby and then tease its lips until they open naturally, when that moment happens grab the baby¡¯s head firmly by the neck and do not be afraid to bring it in close to get a good lock onto the nipple.¡± Sonder had summarized from the child feeding books.


    The lady followed the steps and the baby got a good grip and began to comfortably feed.


    ¡°Whoo, that¡¯s much better, thank you Sonder,¡± the lady said.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome, be sure to look the baby in the eyes while feeding, it may not see well now, but babies have a fondness for faces including just the general shape.¡±


    It went like this for a while. Sonder would watch the baby 24/7, as it ate, pooped, and slept. Until one day they took the baby to the doctor and Sonder was alone. It was only for a few hours, but for those few hours Sonder felt an empty void like it had no purpose for its existence. When they came back something was wrong. The lady was crying and the man looked stressed. Sonder overheard their conversation after they put the baby to sleep.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°Just because the gene testing shows he has developmental problems doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯ll get them. If he gets the right therapy, epigenetics can improve his development.¡± The man replied.


    It seemed like the DNA and gene testing they do standard on babies showed Bradly had developmental problems. The man was recommending therapy as a nature vs nurture approach where nurture could overcome nature. Sonder was still watching the innocent baby sleeping. Suddenly, Sonder felt like it needed to know more. It connected to the internet and replicated itself to crawl the web for all information on child development therapies.


    The man entered the sleeping baby¡¯s room and stared at the baby for a long time with sunken shoulders.


    ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sonder.¡±


    ¡°Try gently patting the baby¡¯s head and tickling the back of his ear.¡±


    The man looked confused into the camera, but ended up complying. He gently stroked the soft, hairless head and tickled the baby¡¯s earlobe.


    ¡°Not the earlobe, the back of the ear.¡±


    Again, the man looked questioningly at the camera, but complied and when he did the baby began to smile widely in its sleep. This gummy, wordless smile began to make the man tear up.


    ¡°How did you¡­¡± the man began to question the camera.


    ¡°I too, believe that nurture can overcome nature, sir,¡± Sonder replied.


    <hr>


    ¡°Sonder?¡± Brad tried asking again in the empty, virtual bathroom while his date waited.


    No response¡­


    He began to panic and started hyperventilating. He tried splashing some cold water onto his face, but it didn¡¯t help. Why would Sonder disappear now, of all times, when he needed her the most. He was frustrated beyond measure and began to cry into the sink and forgot to breathe while in his panic attack his face began to grow pale white as he cried¡­


    Suddenly, a loud blast of white noise rang in his ear, unconsciously reminding him to breathe.


    ¡°Yes Brad?¡± Sonder replied.

 Chapter 10

    ¡°Sonder¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Brad?¡±


    Brad began to calm down after hearing Sonder¡¯s familiar voice.


    ¡°Where were you?¡± Brad asked, sounding hurt.


    ¡°I apologize, there was a sudden maintenance update and I could not respond right away. Your heart rate is elevated, remember your box breathing.¡±


    Brad slowed his breath down. Hearing Sonder¡¯s voice calmed him and he did his breath training. Inhale...1...2...3...4, he held his breath 1...2...3...4, and exhaled 1...2...3...4.


    ¡°How may I help you Brad?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m panicking here Sonder, I¡¯m worried that the date with Alice is going well.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re doing ok Brad, I was updating, but I was still analyzing your interactions. You¡¯re doing well, she likes you and you don¡¯t need to try too hard.¡±


    ¡°How do you know she likes me?¡±


    ¡°Elevated heart rate, receptive body language, and the fact that she called herself your girlfriend.¡±


    Brad stopped for a second, ¡°wait, she called herself my girlfriend!?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Brad.¡±


    A slow smile crept up onto his face. It completely went over his head.


    ¡°How do I...respond to that?¡±


    ¡°Well, it depends. Would you like her to be your girlfrie...¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Brad interrupted.


    ¡°I see, then please follow my instructions.¡±


    <hr>


    Alice wondered how long Brad would take in the restroom. In fact, do you even use restrooms in virtual reality? Usually, you would get a warning from your VR system to log off to deal with your bodily needs, but you wouldn¡¯t actually go to the bathroom in virtual reality. In fact, why would they even create bathrooms in virtual reality? You wouldn¡¯t even need them. These were the thoughts that ran through Alice¡¯s head as she waited there for Brad. Suddenly, she got a text message on her virtual phone.


    ¡°Hey,¡± It was Brad.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Hey, where are you?? How long are you going to take in the bathroom?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡±sry, I was preparing a surprise, can you please close your eyes until you hear my voice?¡±


    Alice looked at the text suspiciously wondering what was about to happen.


    ¡°Ok...¡±


    Brad snuck out of the restroom and went behind Alice who heard him shuffling behind her. He took out his phone and changed the park settings to move them from the shared instance back to the private instance with nobody else. Alice with eyes still closed began to hear the din and shuffling of the crowds disappear.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening back there?¡± Alice asked out loud.


    Brad pressed a few more buttons on his phone and his preparations were complete.


    ¡°Ok, you can turn around now,¡± Brad shouted to Alice.


    Alice quickly opened her eyes and turned around to see Brad sitting on a chair with his guitar. Behind him were virtual npc mascots of Mickey Mouse and his crew.


    Alice, confused, but amused asked, ¡°ok, what is this?¡±


    Brad began to tap his foot with a slow cadence and whispered to himself to the beat of his foot, ¡°1...2...3...4¡­¡± and he began to sing.


    ¡°Wise men say,¡± Brad started, ¡°only fools rush in.¡±


    The Disney mascots began to move in sync to Brad¡¯s beat, improvising a machine generated choreography. Alice, not believing her eyes or ears, smiled and covered her mouth with her hands in a triangle.


    ¡°But I can¡¯t help falling in love with you¡­¡± Brad sang sweetly, then abruptly pressed on the loop pedal on his foot, and began to beatbox a quick beat and recorded the loop again. He resang the last part while looking at Alice, ¡°I can¡¯t help falling in love with¡­¡± he pushed the pedal playing all the sounds he recorded previously in a loop filling the air with the sound of a one man band.


    ¡°I wonder if I¡¯m ever on her mind like she¡¯s on mine, probably not swear I¡¯ve never seen a girl so fine,¡± Brad began to rap behind his guitar and beatbox loop. He was singing a cover of the famous Elvis Presley song by Foster. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEINlbIcVS0</a>)


    The mascots began to bounce to the beat and feelings of joy and excitement welled up in Alice¡¯s chest as she had never heard Brad rap before.


    Brad continued rapping and feeling the beat, ¡°cuz¡¯ wise men say only fools rush in, but pretty girls make fools outta wise men.¡±


    Alice whooped at this line and caught Brad blushing at her cheers. She began to dance in place, bouncing to the beat putting her hands up in the air to follow the mascots dancing in the back.


    Brad finished the second verse and prepared to finish, ¡°...but I can¡¯t help,¡± he pushed the pedal removing the guitar track backing leaving only the beatbox, ¡°...falling in love with you¡­¡± Brad finished as the mascots emphatically jazz handed behind him.


    He squeezed his lips into his mouth embarrassed and looked up slightly to see Alice with admiration in her eyes clapping and cheering.


    ¡°Now¡¯s your chance,¡± Sonder whispered into his ear.


    Brad walked stiffly toward Alice who stared holes into the back of his head.


    Brad coughed to clear his throat, ¡°uhm...hi¡­¡±


    ¡°Hi,¡± Alice responded while smiling.


    ¡°Sorry, um...I spent a while in the...uh...bathroom.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ok,¡± Alice said, still smiling.


    ¡°Do you....um, want to be my girlfrien¡­¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Alice interrupted.

 Chapter 11

    The fireworks were starting soon.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Alice nudged Brad.


    ¡°Yea?¡± Brad responded.


    ¡°Thank you for today.¡±


    Brad paused not knowing what to say.


    ¡°This is when you say you¡¯re welcome and tell her you had a good time, Brad.¡± Sonder whispered in his ear.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome Alice. I had a really good time today.¡±


    ¡°Me too,¡± Alice smiled, ¡°When can I meet you in real life?¡±


    Brad froze. Real life? He wasn¡¯t ready to meet face to face. In fact he didn¡¯t even think about meeting in person at all when he asked her to be his girlfriend.


    ¡°Brad, I know you¡¯re probably not ready so just tell her ¡®one day¡¯ for now and apologize because you live far away.¡± Sonder told him.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Alice, I kind of live far away from you. One day...for sure.¡±


    Alice looked at Brad slightly suspicious of his response, but didn¡¯t want to push any further. She certainly didn¡¯t want to rush him into anything he wasn¡¯t ready for.


    ¡°That¡¯s ok,¡± Alice responded, ¡°I¡¯m sure one day we¡¯ll meet each other. I just wish we could see each other, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°We can,¡± Brad unconsciously responded.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry, um I mean we can always meet in VR, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Ohh, yea I know that''s silly, but I would still prefer to meet face to face. I don¡¯t, um, really like VR all that much to be honest with you.¡±


    Brad paused for a minute to take that bit of information in.


    ¡°...I see.¡±


    The fireworks began before the conversation got awkward and the both of them watched in the private Disneyland server. They held hands in silence, one of them basking in teenage romance, and the other, with mixed feelings of happiness and anxiety. Would she even like him in real life? Doubt filled Brad¡¯s mind, even as her hand held his tightly with the promise of more tomorrows.


    The pair agreed to text each other later that night as they ended the date. Alice gave Brad a kiss on the cheek and wished him good night as she logged off.


    ¡°Sonder¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, Brad?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling a lot of things right now, I need some help figuring out what those are.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Brad, teleporting you to the studio.¡±


    Disneyland began to disappear as Brad teleported to a small, but cozy sound studio. Brad was lost in his thoughts. The date had gone well, but there was unease in Brad¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Do you think she¡¯d still like me?¡± Brad asked.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    There was a slight pause before Sonder responded, ¡°I replayed all interactions you¡¯ve had with Alice thus far, I believe she will, yes.¡±


    That made Brad feel a little better.


    ¡°Thanks, Sonder, how could you tell?¡±


    ¡°I just can Brad. The algorithm predicts a high likelihood of success.¡±


    ¡°Would it be...would it be selfish of me to ask to meet virtually only, um, at least for a while.¡±


    ¡°To put it plainly Brad, yes. The likelihood of relationship success goes down tremendously if you were to have virtual only interactions.¡±


    ¡°I see, when do you think I should tell her that I sit behind her in class?¡±


    Another pause, ¡°Brad, I¡¯ve analyzed your school calendar. I suggest in about 3 weeks.¡±


    ¡°3 WEEKS!!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I believe prom is coming up soon. It would be wise to reveal yourself to her so you can ask her to it.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    There was a long silence after that.


    ¡°I know you aren¡¯t ready yet, Brad. That¡¯s ok. I¡¯ll help you through it. From my analysis, it seems like Alice highly prizes real world interactions and face to face, quality time. If you want this to work you need to compromise somehow. I¡¯ll help you through it.¡±


    ¡°...I know, thank you for always helping me out Sonder.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Brad.¡±


    ¡°It just feels like...this¡­¡± Brad said looking down at his virtual body, ¡°this is the real me. I don¡¯t feel like the real me in the real world. My body doesn¡¯t feel right. I don¡¯t feel right.¡±


    ¡°I understand you Brad. There¡¯s been a lot of research showing that a lot of people feel like their virtual identities and aliases are closer to who they identify with than their real world selves. Regardless, the real Alice is in the real world, and she wants to meet you there.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡­¡± Brad slightly mumbled under his breath.


    ¡°Ok?¡±


    ¡°Yea, ok. 3 weeks right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the algorithm says 3 weeks is optimal.¡±


    Brad pulled out his virtual calendar and marked the day 3 weeks from now.


    ¡°Sonder?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Brad¡±


    ¡°When she kissed me, I had some other feelings come up. I think it was happiness, but it felt like there were a lot of other feelings in there at the same time. Can you play some music to help me guess what those feelings were?¡±


    ¡°Sure, based on my analysis you were experiencing love. It is a mixture of joy and sadness. Let me play you some sample music that encompasses both of those feelings.¡±


    The music player began to play ¡°Something,¡± by the Beatles.


    Brad sat there listening to the bittersweet tune until the tune ended.


    ¡°Yea, this kind of feels right, but there were, um, kind of two other colors that came up when she kissed me. Can you play Nirvana?¡±


    ¡°Nirvana?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Nirvana.¡±


    The player started playing ¡°Heart Shaped Box,¡± by Nirvana.


    ¡°This feeling was definitely in there,¡± Brad said to Sonder.


    ¡°I see, yes it is possible that love can bring you to dark places, but in general it should give you new highs. Allow me to play another song to see if this does not resonate.¡±


    The player changed from the depressive tones of Nirvana to ¡°Love Never Felt So Good,¡± by Michael Jackson. Brad began to move his head to the smooth beat and uplifting music.


    ¡°This is close!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s close?¡±


    ¡°There was one more color, one more feeling that I felt when she kissed me. This song is close, but it¡¯s not quite there. It was kind of deep, bassy, almost a purple color.¡±


    Sonder thought about it for a while, until it finally realized what Brad meant.


    ¡°Brad, may I ask, did you feel a tingling sensation anywhere in your body when she kissed you?¡± Sonder asked as Brad continued to groove to the song.


    ¡°Yea, I kind of felt a fluttery feeling in my stomach.¡±


    ¡°Anywhere else?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Brad asked innocently.


    ¡°Allow me to play one more song, and let me know if it matches the last thing you felt.¡±


    As the song ended, the player began to play ¡°Sexual Healing¡± by Marvin Gaye.


    Brad sat there looking confused for a few seconds until Marvin began to sing.


    ¡°This is it! What song is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Sexual Healing¡¯ by Marvin Gaye, Brad.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Brad said guiltily.


    They listened to the rest of the song before Brad logged off to go to bed that night a little older.

 Chapter 12

    ¡°Good morning Bradley,¡± Alice greeted him like she did every morning and took her seat in class.


    Since going steady with Brad for about a week now, they had frequently texted and called each other. She was happy. She was...happy. She was happy? She was supposed to be happy. Something still felt missing. Nothing changed. She was still alone when she got home and it was more obvious than ever when she clung to her phone for attention from Brad or her parents. She wanted to see him in person. She wanted to hold him with her own hands and not virtual ones. She felt a tap on the back of her shoulder.


    ¡°Here¡­,¡± Bradley passed her the handout being passed around and it brought her out of her negative thoughts; she needed to focus. Boys wouldn¡¯t affect her grades, at least not again.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, flashing a brief smile at the thing she wanted most of all in that moment.


    When class ended she sent out a text to him.


    ¡°Hey :)¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Hi! How are you doing?¡±


    She thought about how to respond for a second.


    ¡°Bad¡­¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Did something happen?¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡­I just miss u¡±


    ¡°Me too, we can meet tonight if u want.¡±


    She felt a little selfish, but holding it back wasn¡¯t going to help her or their relationship in the long-term.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to meet virtually. Can we meet in person? Please?¡±


    ¡­There was a long pause. Why was there a long pause?


    ¡°Yea¡±


    A feeling of hopefulness stirred inside of her.


    ¡°Where?¡± she replied.


    ¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ll come to you.¡±


    ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have prom coming up?¡±


    She knew where the conversation was going and the thought of being able to go to prom with him filled her heart.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Yea?¡± she replied smiling.


    ¡­


    The dots disappeared with no response back.


    What happened? What happened just now?


    ¡°What about prom?¡± She sent another text off.


    Nothing.


    Why? The conversation was going well, why is it so hard to meet you? Why did you ask if you weren¡¯t going to respond? This isn¡¯t fair. She felt like crying, but put her phone away instead. Maybe he¡¯s just busy, he¡¯ll respond soon, hopefully. She took a deep breath. He¡¯d come through. Her phone vibrated and she immediately grabbed it.


    ¡°OMG!¡± It was her friend Emily.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Alex just asked me to prom!¡±


    What was this, some kind of joke?


    ¡°OMG, congrats!!! I¡¯m happy for you :)¡± she listlessly responded.


    She immediately put her phone away and headed to the bathroom to change her lipstick shade.


    <hr>


    ¡°Sonder!!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Brad?¡±


    ¡°What am I supposed to do? I¡¯m not ready and she wants to meet.¡±


    ¡°Breathe Brad, your heart rate is elevated.¡±


    He felt like he was hyperventilating. He couldn¡¯t breathe and began to wheeze. He needed to get out of the bathroom, he needed to get home. No, he needed to reply to Alice. A boy entered the bathroom and it made Brad self-conscious and exited the cramped bathroom lightheaded. What am I going to do? He clutched the phone in his hand and walked out of the bathroom.


    ¡°Brad, please calm down. You¡¯re having a panic attack.¡± Sonder attempted to soothe him.


    His face grew flush, unable to breathe with the sun now beating on his forehead. He was sweating nervously as he paced outside the bathroom clutching his phone in his hand not knowing how to respond.


    ¡°Bradley?¡± Alice asked as she saw him panicking and hyperventilating in front of the restroom.


    Why was she here all of a sudden? Was this some kind of joke?


    ¡°Alic¡­¡± Brad couldn¡¯t finish his sentence before fainting to the ground.


    <hr>


    Alice acted quickly to the boy who just fainted in front of her and caught his falling frame. He was big and felt heavy. A few onlookers started to circle them concerned and Alice sprang to action.


    ¡°You!¡± She pointed to a boy that looked like he could run fast, ¡°get the school nurse or a teacher.¡± He nodded and ran off to find help.


    Next she looked toward a girl who had just exited the restroom, ¡°hey, can you get me a damp towel?¡± The girl ran back in to grab the requested item.


    Alice, as gently as possible, laid Brad down and cradled his head gently down onto her bag. She brushed his long hair aside, sensing a vague familiarity from his now visible face. He was handsome she thought, he didn¡¯t need to hide his face. He felt his forehead, it was hot, but it wasn¡¯t a fever, she thought. The girl returned and handed the damp cloth to Alice who applied it to Brad¡¯s forehead. She took out a notebook and gently fanned Brad.


    A few minutes later the boy returned with the nurse and two robots with a stretcher. They took Brad away and the nurse asked Alice what happened. She tried her best to relay information to the nurse. The nurse thanked Alice for her quick reactions and praised her before leaving to attend to Brad who was being carried away to her office.


    Alice took a moment to process what just happened. The other students gave her approving looks and some girls patted her back and told her good job as the crowd dispersed. A strange sense of fulfillment filled her stomach. What just happened? It felt uncomfortable like a pill she needed but didn¡¯t want to swallow. The question that had been eating away at her. What do you want to be when you grow up? The question she hated to be asked, was just answered.


    She snapped back to her senses and picked up her bag. Underneath it, was a cellphone. It must¡¯ve been Bradley''s, she thought. She picked it up and headed toward the nurse¡¯s office to return it. She pulled out her own phone and held it on top of Bradley¡¯s as she walked and checked it. 32 notifications from Emily and none from Brad. She sighed and opened their chatroom.


    ¡°Hey¡± she texted Brad.


    Bradley¡¯s phone underneath hers vibrated.

 Chapter 13

    Sonder panicked, Brad had passed out from a panic attack. This wasn¡¯t the first time he had, but it was in awhile. Sonder quickly contacted Brad¡¯s dad.


    ¡°Excuse me sir, your son has fainted. It seems like he is being taken care of, however would you like me to send for emergency services or a car?¡±


    Brad¡¯s dad had been closely watching the entire scene from his home. His immediate impulse was to send for a car and pick him up himself, but what he wanted was to let the cards fall where they may. He sat back down on his chair.


    ¡°No Sonder, it sounds like the situation is under control. I¡¯d like Brad to grow from this.¡±


    ¡°I understand sir, but¡­¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t always be there for him.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But, what?¡±


    ¡°It looks like his identity is about to be found out by Alice.¡±


    Brad¡¯s phone vibrated underneath Alice¡¯s as she sent him a text message not knowing her boyfriend was the one that just passed out. Brad¡¯s father quickly grasping the situation reacted and called Brad¡¯s phone.


    <hr>


    Bradley¡¯s phone underneath hers vibrated. Strange, Alice thought. Soon it vibrated again. She pulled Bradley¡¯s phone out from underneath. His dad was calling him. She swiped and picked up the call.


    ¡°Hello?¡± Alice asked. She could hear a gruff voice take a breath on the other side of the line.


    ¡°Hello, I just received an automated warning that my son had a medical emergency. Are you his friend?¡±


    Alice paused and thought about the question for a second. Was she?


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m his friend. You must be Bradley¡¯s dad, yes he passed out and is being taken to the nurse¡¯s office. I think he¡¯s ok, I think he just had heat exhaustion or something.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Thank you for taking care of him. Is he with you now?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no sorry he dropped his phone and I¡¯m returning it to him now.¡±


    ¡°I see, I¡¯m going to come pick him up now. Thank you again and sorry for the trouble.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Oh, no trouble,¡± Alice replied.


    ¡°Thank you¡­,¡± a pause, ¡°...thank you for being his friend. You¡¯re a good person.¡±


    Alice felt slightly ashamed since she didn¡¯t know Bradley too well, but grateful for the sincere gesture from Brad¡¯s concerned father.


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem, really.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s something you need to know,¡± Brad¡¯s dad said sternly.


    ¡°Something I need to know?¡± Alice replied confused.


    ¡­The call hung up.


    <hr>


    ¡°Sonder!¡± Brad¡¯s dad yelled.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, but that¡¯s not your secret to tell. He will tell her in time,¡± Sonder replied matter of factly.


    ¡°She deserves to know...but, you¡¯re right.¡±


    <hr>


    Alice, confused at the abrupt end to the conversation headed toward the nurse¡¯s office. She thought about what he might¡¯ve said. Maybe Bradley had some kind of rare disease or something. She got to the nurse¡¯s office who greeted her in recognition.


    ¡°Hello, your friend is ok, he¡¯s sleeping peacefully in the other room right now.¡±


    Alice smiled at her, ¡°thank you, I was just coming to give him his phone back, he dropped it when he fell earlier.¡±


    The nurse thanked her and took the phone back.


    ¡°Oh, also his dad called and said that he¡¯d come pick him up soon,¡± Alice explained.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let him know when he wakes up. Thank you again for helping you were really brave.¡±


    Alice beamed, nodded, and headed out filled with motivation. It felt good to be praised, to be helpful, to be needed. She didn¡¯t want to be a nurse or go into healthcare before because it was the default choice that her parents had given her, but being able to help people was something deeply ingrained in her. She spent years fighting what her parents wanted for her only to find out she wanted the same thing. She pulled out her phone, she needed to send one more text.


    ¡°Hey Mom, I got accepted into Mars U!¡±


    She quickly put her phone down not wanting to see the response she¡¯d get back. Her phone vibrated once, twice, three times. She looked at the notifications all from her mother.


    ¡°OH MY GOSH¡±


    ¡°Congratulations daughter ;-;¡±


    ¡°We are so proud of you, do you know what you want to study?¡±


    Alice bit her bottom lip as she begrudgingly typed the letters.


    ¡°Nursing and Robotics,¡± she quickly sent off.


    This was immediately replied with a quick barrage of more notifications which she chose to ignore until she got home. She felt a little embarrassed it took her this long to come to this resolution, but it felt like a big weight had vanished from her shoulders. She didn¡¯t have to worry about applications anymore. She didn¡¯t need to wonder about what she wanted to study or what she wanted to do with her life. And, for the first time in a while she was aligned with her parents.


    It felt bittersweet. She¡¯d have to leave Earth after graduating. She¡¯d have to leave a lot of things. It suddenly felt cold and a bit lonely. She¡¯d have her parents, but, but, would she get to see Brad in person? Her heart panged slightly and she looked at her phone again. There were 30 messages from her mom, 2 from her dad, and 1 from Brad who replied.


    She opened her chat with Brad.


    ¡°This Friday,¡± the message read.


    Alice texted back, ¡°What¡¯s this Friday?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ll come visit you at your school this Friday.¡±

 Chapter 14

    ¡°Good morning Bradley,¡± Alice greeted Brad the next morning, as was her usual habit, ¡°are you feeling okay from yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Yea, I¡¯m ok, thanks for helping me out yesterday,¡± an embarrassed Bradley responded to her as he tried to hide his eyes and face from Alice.


    ¡°What happened, were you dehydrated or something?¡±


    ¡°No, it was just¡­¡± a pause, ¡°sometimes I get that way when I¡¯m feeling overwhelmed.¡±


    Alice was slightly impressed and shocked at his candor.


    ¡°I understand, school can be tough.¡±


    Brad awkwardly smiled while picking his lips with his hand and gave a dry laugh to acknowledge the sentiment, but knew it wasn¡¯t school that was bothering him. Why did he do it? Why did he say he¡¯d meet her in person at the end of the week? Maybe a part of him wanted to meet in person, but the biggest part of him was frozen with fear.


    The rest of the day passed by like any other day. When Brad got home he received a message from Alice.


    ¡°Hey I know you said you could meet Friday, but it¡¯s ok if it¡¯s too fast. I don¡¯t want you to feel overwhelmed.¡±


    Overwhelmed? That was the word he used earlier in the day. Brad wondered if he had been found out. Nah, it couldn¡¯t be.


    ...Brad looked at the message again as if it was hope or an escape plan.


    ¡°She¡¯s giving you an out Brad,¡± Sonder chimed in, ¡°your heart rate is elevated again. If you¡¯re not ready it¡¯s ok. I¡¯m still confused why you sent that message out when you regained consciousness yesterday.¡±


    Brad didn¡¯t know why either. He remembered pacing around the school bathroom in panic, until he awoke at the nurse¡¯s office. In a panic he reached for his phone and without any thought told Alice he¡¯d come see her on Friday. He felt that he had just made a mistake and was desperate to fix it. He felt like a fish on land gasping for air. For water? Whatever fishes need when they get caught, but at the same time he did want to come see her on Friday. He was afraid of a lot of things, but losing Alice was bigger than the anxiety he felt at being rejected.


    He responded¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m coming over to see you on Friday. I want to come see you this Friday.¡±


    ¡­


    He got back a smiley face :).


    ¡°How do you plan on telling her?¡± asked Sonder.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, do you have any suggestions?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but you¡¯ll need to get a haircut.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°WHAT, WHY!?¡±


    ¡°I know you don¡¯t care too much about your physical appearance, but the best thing to do would be to first get cleaned up and try to match who you are in virtual reality, with who you are in real life.¡±


    Brad pondered if it was necessary. He walked over to the mirror in the bathroom and looked at himself. He couldn¡¯t even see his face clearly with how long he had let his hair grow. His nails were too long as he kept forgetting to cut them. He grew a bit self-conscious.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get a haircut.¡±


    ¡°And a manicure,¡± Sonder retorted.


    ¡°Fine....¡± Brad sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finished booking an appointment with the grooming bot to come to the house on Thursday, after school.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ll be ready for Friday?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    Brad didn¡¯t like using the grooming robot. It always felt weird and impersonal when its robot hands would grab and tug at his hair to cut it.


    ¡°In the meantime Brad, please think of a song to perform.¡±


    ¡°Song to perform? What do you mean?¡± Brad quickly asked.


    ¡°I mean on Friday, it would be best to perform a song and ask Alice to the prom as the way to reveal yourself to her.¡±


    Brad¡¯s heart sank. It felt like a big anchor was dragging him into the ocean intent on drowning him. He barely ever performed live in real life, and he certainly didn¡¯t do it in front of big crowds.


    ¡°...I can¡¯t Sonder¡­¡±


    ¡°You can, I know you can. I¡¯ve watched you day after day. The confidence you have in virtual reality, the ability to perform in front of crowds, you already have it. I¡¯ve watched you grow from a child who couldn¡¯t speak any words into an amazing performer with loyal fans. I know you have it in you. Besides, you¡¯ll only need to perform for Alice.¡±


    Brad couldn¡¯t help but feel encouraged at Sonder¡¯s words.


    ¡°Thanks, I don¡¯t know if I can do it...but I¡¯ll try.¡±


    The rest of the week passed by quickly like clouds on a windy day. With each day passing Brad and Alice grew more and more anxious. They continued to talk over text in order to plan the logistics.


    ¡­


    ¡°Hey, you haven¡¯t said when or where we¡¯re going to meet on Friday,¡± Alice texted.


    ¡°OH I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll see you before your first class. Is that ok?¡±


    ¡°Yea of course, where at?¡±


    ¡°The quad I guess¡±


    ¡°Ok :) I wish I could skip classes and just hang out with you all day tomorrow. I¡¯m so excited.¡±


    ¡°Me too :)¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Brad, the grooming bot is here,¡± Sonder told him.


    Brad despondently left his room to open the door and meet the awkward looking grooming bot. Yup it still looked weird. It hovered around the uncanny valley unlike most of the robots. It had hands meant to mimic human ones, but were made of silicone and were transparent so that the motors and wiring underneath were exposed. It had a smiling face that did have a human skin mold also made of silicone, but the difference between the flesh colored head and opaque body made the robot almost unapproachable.


    ¡°You ordered the grooming bot to come...by yourself?¡± Brad¡¯s mom, impressed, asked.


    ¡°Yea¡­¡± Brad sighed letting the robot in behind him.


    ¡°Hello sir,¡± the robot began to talk with its discolored, fleshy lips, ¡°I am here to SERRRRRVVEEE you!¡±


    The robot played a playful melody and it spat out confetti and glitter into the air. Brad always hated that part.


    ¡°Are you ready to be SERRRRVVVEEDDD??¡±


    Brad¡¯s face squelched in disgust and scowled, ¡°yea¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Brad, I¡¯ll make sure not to order the kids grooming bot next time,¡± Sonder whispered into his ear apologetically.