The Room Where Your Dreams Come True
It was finished, as the installation crew had just sent the notification to his phone. Joe gingerly walked back into his house, excited to try his new gift to himself. A brand new, state of the art, LiveRoom Gaming system was the gift he bought himself.
So advanced, it was a completely new gaming experience where an entire room was transformed into a live gaming system. The controller? Well put simply, it is just the player. The player’s body is put into the game, the walls, ceiling, and floor, all transformed with screens that project the environment of the game. The floor was also a treadmill that would allow the player to physically move around these spaces. To top it all off, the brand-new innovation by the LiveRoom company, called the Physical Holo Cameras, allowed for touchable, holographic elements to be placed in the room. A soccer ball could be kicked by the player and it would feel real to them. The player used their physical body in a holographically created world and when they were done, the system would be shut off, allowing them to simply exit the room.
The system was complex, LiveRoom had done extensive research to confirm that users had to be over 18 years old due to younger children becoming alarmingly addicted to the game. The game would confirm age using the Holo cameras to prevent children from accessing the system. Joe knew the risks of playing with the LiveRoom but he felt he had the self-control to not become too absorbed in the game.
Now all this impressive tech came with a price. A price that Joe had to take a loan out for just to afford. The cost, $20,000, as the LiveRoom was on the cutting edge of technology, using materials in volumes that cost significant amounts of money. Joe felt he had earned it, being promoted to a supervisor position at RepairCo, a 3D tech part printing company for broken electronics. After waiting a month for all the parts to be shipped and twelve hours of the day just for the system to be installed, he could not wait to play.
He opened the door to the room, pressing the power button outside the door on his way in. The system booted up, the Holo Cameras scanning the room and his body to create an image for the system to use. Using hand gestures, Joe selected the game Free-For-All, an open world, do whatever you want game. He went through the character creation process, chose a name, and loaded into the world. For the next four hours, he was not Joe, but BigJoe123, a large muscular man who ran a car dealership.
It was surreal, he could live out any life experience he wanted to through this system. One moment he could be a professional football player, the next a soldier dropping into battle and after that an astronaut exploring the solar system in a futuristic spaceship. He enjoyed the freedom, the feeling of not being constrained by society, being able to do or be what he wanted, when he wanted. It was time to hang it up for the night though, work was in the morning and he needed sleep.
Joe walked out, shutting off the system and climbed into bed with his wife. She was happy to see he was enjoying his new toy as he had been working hard to earn the promotion at his job. He had done so well to support his family with this job, raising his twins who were still young at four years old. This promotion gave them financial comfort, the ability to feel like everything was covered, no stress.
The next day was great for Joe as he started in his new position as supervisor. He was trained for his new responsibilities and was happy with what he had to do now. Lingering in his mind all day was his new gaming system, waiting for him at home. But he had more important things to do, like picking up his twins from preschool and picking up milk from the store. The game could wait until later that night.
After running his errands and spending the afternoon with his family, Joe entered the LiveRoom. He logged back onto Free-For-All and chose to be a professional basketball player this time, living out his childhood dream of being in the NBA. Clearly having too much fun, Joe lost track of time, finally remembering he had work at 4 a.m. He snuck into bed but still managed to wake his wife, who was irritated with him for spending so much time on the game. Despite being upset, she let it go, seeing that he did just get it and was simply enjoying himself.
Things were great for months, Joe working his new position at RepairCo, having a great time with his family, and enjoying the LiveRoom in his free time. Slowly though, Joe began playing the system more and more each day. It started out with him ending up in bed late like before, but he began getting on earlier and earlier as the months passed. His wife asked him to spend less time on it, but Joe brushed he off, he was having fun, living out his dreams and fantasies.
One day it all changed, six months after he got the LiveRoom. He woke up for work, but did not go, instead choosing to go in the LiveRoom. Faking a cough, Joe called into work sick, and his boss bought it. Due to the soundproofing, his wife had no idea he was in there, allowing Joe to get away with spending most of the day in there. He waited until she left with the kids to leave the room and acted like he had gone into work that day. Playing as BigJoe123 was more fun and enjoyable to Joe than being himself in real life with his real responsibilities.
Skipping work became regular for Joe, and he still managed to avoid being caught by his wife. After two weeks straight of missing work, RepairCo fired Joe. His boss was upset because he was fond of Joe and thought he was a great employee, but the company could not deal with having an absent supervisor. Bills started piling up and his wife took notice, he could not lie his way out of this one and had to admit he was fired. She was livid with him, but Joe lied saying his boss did not like him and just wanted to get rid of him. She, trusting him, bought the lie but Joe needed to make money for his family. He chose not to and instead would spend his whole day in the LiveRoom.
Joe continued to spend his days playing in the room, ignoring his family and his own health. He began to rapidly deteriorate, losing a significant amount of weight and suffering from sleep deprivation. His wife, despite all the difficulty, would calmy suggest to him he take a break, spend time with his family and start looking for a new job but Joe continued to ignore her.
4 months after losing his job, Joe had a heart attack in the LiveRoom. He collapsed onto the ground and may have passed away if it was not for his wife happening to come get him for dinner. The doctors told him he was lucky to have survived and that he would need to change his ways otherwise he would be at risk for other health issues. He was malnourished, losing his life, and losing his family at the same time.
Once he was healthy enough to go home, he was discharged and went home with his family. Instead of giving it one day and simply relaxing at home, he went right back to the LiveRoom, which upset his wife a significant amount. She went in and shut it off, crying and telling him that she did not want to find him passed out on the floor again and that his children did not deserve to grow up with their father acting this way.
None of this changed Joe, he was committed to living the rest of his life being his virtual character. He preferred to go by his virtual name BigJoe123 now instead of his real name as he felt his life was the game, so absorbed into it he could not see everything he was losing around him. Shortly after coming home from the hospital his wife filed for divorce and left with the kids. Joe did not care; he gave her everything she wanted as long as he could keep the LiveRoom and she granted his wish. One month after the divorce, Joe passed away from starvation and malnutrition as he completely stopped eating and was fulling absorbed into the game. The end of his life was a cautionary tale, showing someone can become so absorbed, they lose everything around them, including themselves.
