A Custom Idea

The rest of the morning passed quickly. Audra alternated between watching Zephyr work on the pod and fetching him stuff. They continued their conversation and eventually moved into a wide range of topics. From their shared interest in science fiction books and movies, to their differing opinions on the best kind of pizza topping—Zephyr said mushrooms were the best, but for her it was obviously french fries.

By the end of it all, the VR pod transformed into something more.

Zephyr closed up the last panel and wiped the sweat from his brow. The new coat of paint glinted in the afternoon light.

"Alright, that should do it. What do you think of VRPod: Third Chances Custom Edition?"

"Wow," was the only thing Audra managed to say at first.

It was no longer a bunch of scraps, but a proper high-tech capsule—like something straight from a tech dealer.

"…Is this even the same machine from earlier?"

"Philosophically? Probably. Technically? Around half."

"I meant that rhetorically—never mind. What now? Are you just going to leave it here?"

"Yup. Planning on delivering it tomorrow. My friend's place is in the city, so it'll be better to bring it over on a Sunday when traffic is lightest."

"Makes sense. Wait, are you gonna transport this entire thing in your dinky pod truck? No offense, but I don't think that's gonna fit."

"Hah, don't worry about the details of my logistics. The frame of the VR capsule is modular, meaning it can easily be taken apart and transported. Unlike you, I know the limits of my vehicles."

Audra felt her pride prickle, but she chose to let his jab slide with a tsk.

"I'll take your word for it. Do you have anything else planned for today?"

"Well, I still gotta test the pod to make sure it works, although before that, we should probably eat lunch."

The clock on the wall chimed as if on cue.

"Yep, 2 PM. I'll whip something up quickly. In the meantime, feel free to do whatever you want. Just don't burn the house down while I'm cooking. You good with pesto?"

"I'll try not to. And yeah, pesto is cool."

He left the room with a thumbs-up, leaving Audra alone with her thoughts.

She sighed as the workshop door closed.

Now that she had nothing to occupy herself with, she couldn't stop going back to what Zephyr had told her earlier—his words about the past being set in stone.

Would he really not go back and change things even if he could? It seemed like an easy choice to make, and yet…

She briefly glanced at the pod, and her mind drifted to her parents next.

What would they say to her now? Would they tell her the same thing that Zeph had?

A bitter smile stung Audra.

Probably. Her dad was a bit of a forward-thinking optimist, always looking to the future. He'd probably encourage her to 'focus on the road ahead'. Her mom would've agreed, though she'd probably also chime in about 'remembering the lessons of the past' before following it up with one of her hugs that made everything seem better.

They were always supporting her in whatever she did, no matter how silly or impractical it was. Yet, only she was here now. Not them.

She would never be able to apologize for being a brat, tell them how much they meant to her, or thank them for raising her despite being a freak.

"…Or maybe I could."

Her gaze drifted toward the pod. Maybe it supported custom scenarios?

Before she'd been bullied out of normal school, some of her classes had used full-dive systems. It was supposed to allow students to experience things that they wouldn't be able to in a 'normal' setting.

She glanced nervously at the open door. Zephyr was fiddling with something in the kitchen and humming some sort of tune.

He had mentioned testing the machine, and she did have some experience using them.

With her mind made up, Audra climbed into the pod and glanced around. The interface supported both the newer non-invasive neural caps, as well as direct interfacing with N1-grade bionics.

For once, it seemed her defect actually came in handy.

She pulled out a thick cable from its enclosure and fiddled with its silver casing until she heard a solid click from the base of her neck.

A shiver ran down her spine as the pod's lid lowered and locked her in place. The soft hum of fans and electronics droned, and a cool breeze washed over her skin.

***

She opened her eyes and found herself standing in a room surrounded by darkness, save for a single blue window with various boot-up sequences.

"Welcome." A voice echoed in her ears.

It asked for her name, age, gender, etc., and then gave her a short tutorial on how to navigate through the virtual menus and control the environment.

"Simple enough," she mumbled, quickly skimming through the instructions and ignoring most of it. Most of it was intuitive enough. She navigated to the main menu and lit up as a small box labeled 'Custom' popped up.

So it was possible to create her own scenario after all. Perfect.

She happily selected it and typed away on the virtual keyboard. According to the system overview, this pod could construct scenarios based solely off of her memories, so she didn't even need to be that detailed.

It only took her a few minutes to finish the scenario. Nothing too flashy, just a simple simulation of the antique shop. She'd be in and out to lessen the weight that kept pressing on her chest all the damn time.

Her finger hesitated above the enter key before pressing it.

Her vision faded to black, and static flooded her ears.