Reality, what a concept

 

I wrote this mico-flash fiction piece last week for a challenge in the UK from https://www.secret-attic.co.uk/

The criteria was; No more than 300 words and there were three dialog prompts to choose from.

Dialogue Prompts:

1.  "There's plenty left."
2.  "It's not real."
3.  "How did you know that?"

 I chose "It's not real."

My son had recently given me a game controller for my birthday that had an amazing rumble effect in your hand. This is called haptic feedback and that was the jumping off point for the story. When I wrote it I was unaware that a suit existed. the picture is from https://teslasuit.io/ They are not currently selling to the general public, but this is basically what i was imagining in the story.

So without further ado:

 

Reality, what a concept 

 

The new gaming gear had set Leonard back a bundle, but it was top of the line for the most realistic game play. It included VR goggles and a full body suit outfitted with haptic feedback sensors throughout. The only thing missing was taste and smell.

Leonard suited up and loaded the game. It was a multi-player battle royale game. To win you needed to be the last man standing. Leonard had played and won many of this type of game. He had been reading about this release for months and he’d been chosen to be a beta tester. He’d been chosen for a couple of reasons; his gaming history on Twitch, and this state of the art gaming system.

He pulled down the VR goggles and began to armor up as much as possible, he would have to gain some gold before he could get any advanced armor and weapons. As it stood he had a leather vest over his shirt, a helmet, and a short sword.

He began to explore. It seemed the usual small village surrounded with forests. He went into the tavern to see if there might be a task to be performed to gain some gold. He went to the bar to speak with the innkeeper when a burly well armored player with a long sword challenged him. Leonard accepted. The battle began, Leonard was at a disadvantage, but really had nothing to lose. He was still just getting used to the suit and goggles. Every blow shook his whole frame. Leonard raised his sword to strike when his opponent pierced his vest and killed him. Leonard threw off the goggles and felt his side, there was blood oozing from a wound. Leonard just stared in disbelief and said,”It’s not real”. Then he promptly fainted.