I could not believe it. School was closed again. I sighed, and I gave the door another hopeful push before turning to face the streets. I was sorely tempted to hurl my bag against the cobbled floor and slam my fists on the door, but a thought stopped me. I knew that even though I caused all that racket, nobody would come and scold me. I was soon overwhelmed by that empty feeling and started walking back home.

     It has been ten years since "Yousee," an innovative virtual reality game company, has released its first VR mask. The game program was nothing like what came before it. The game was like reality--but better. You could do anything that you can perform in the real world: make friends, take vacations, and even go to work. But, in the game, there were zero negative things. No war, no heartbreaks, no pain, no death: just like paradise. Each year passed with more players from all across the world, and more and more people started to prefer "Yousee" over reality. Now, the majority of the world's population was stuck in their homes playing the game all day long; no wonder school's closed for the eleventh time this month.

     I walked, half-dragged myself across the empty street, and wrinkled my nose in disgust. Nobody was working to clean the sewers, so the smell had begun to seep through the pipes. I was getting closer to home now. No light shined from the windows, and a faint sound of mechanical beeps leaked through the front door. Then, I noticed something different. A small, blue worn-out flyer was stuck on the front door. I warily yanked the flyer from the door and read the words with caution. 

     All applicants welcome! Yousee is recruiting interns from all around the world! Please contact the number below for more information.

     I stared at the words with anger and shock. The company that transformed my neighborhood and the world into a dumpster, changed the people I love into a bunch of VR maniacs had the guts to place their flyers on my front door. I screamed like a mad person and stomped my feet with frustration. I had the sudden urge to shred the flyer into pieces and break the front door.

     No. I thought to myself. Not now.

     I crumpled the flyer in anger and shoved it inside my pocket. I needed to destroy that game. Hastily, I opened the door and stormed inside. Nothing had changed since I had left for school 30 minutes ago. The living room was still piled with layers and layers of unwashed laundry, and the refrigerator door was swung open. 

     “Mom!” I yelled. Mom was sitting on the sofa, her face entirely covered with the Yousee VR mask. Her arms were flailing around, as if she was swimming across the ocean. The sound of the mechanical beepings from the mask started to get louder. “Mom, take off that mask. Right now.” I waited another second or two, then I lost my cool. I ran toward the corner of the living room and swung my bag against the game console. With an ear-deafening sound of beeps, the console vibrated and I could see that the console was broken on the edge. Bracing myself, I slammed my bag against the console one more time, and the beeping stopped.            

     “NO!” My mom shrieked in agony and tore her mask from her face. Her dark brown hair was drenched with sweat and her red eyes were out of focus. “No, no, no.” she muttered.

     “Mom, can you for once, listen to me?” I shouted, still standing beside the broken console. Mom suddenly fixed her red eyes at me and I realized her body was shaking.

     “This is not real. I was in Hawaii just a split second ago… This can not be real!”

I warily stepped forward.

     “This is real. This is reality. That--no, your trip to Hawaii? That is fake,” I shouted pointing towards the mask. 

     “No, you’re wrong,” she hoarsely replied. Then, her eyes moved on to the broken game console in the corner. Her eyes widened. “You broke this?”

     “Yes.”

     Without missing a beat, she rushed towards the broken console and knelt in front of the pieces. Then, she started crying. Her hoarse cries echoed through the house and tears flowed from her bloated, red eyes. A sudden wave of guilt overwhelmed me and I retreated to the kitchen. I leaned against one of the walls and took out the flyer from my pocket and stared at the words again.

     An intern. Me working for Yousee: the enemy. I thought. Then, a thought hit me hard. As an intern, I might be able to see the CEO. And maybe, if I worked myself up, I would be able to shut down the company and restore the world as it once was. I hurriedly fished my phone out of my bag and dialed the number from the flyer. I was ready.

***

     “Hazel, do you mind if you deliver this package to Ms. West? Her office is on the top floor.” I slowly looked up from my computer. James, a chubby man in his mid-forties was standing right in front of me. His arms were carefully wrapped around an unidentifiable object that was covered with layers and layers of bubble wrap.

     “This is something very important, so make sure you don’t drop it.”

     “Uh, sure. No problem,” I took the package from James and headed towards the elevator next to the printer.

     It has been three weeks since I have seen the flyer stuck in my front door and two weeks since I started working as an intern at Yousee. I honestly did not imagine myself getting in the company easily--I expected interviews after interviews and possibly rejection. In reality, I was offered the job after the first phone call with one of the managers. Nothing significant had happened over the first few weeks; my job was limited to delivering packages, printing papers, and assisting my co-workers.

     The elevator ride was short; I was on floor 100 within a minute. As I stepped out into a brightly-lit hallway, a young woman with coffee-colored eyes greeted me.

     “Hi, Hazel. My name is Eva West. I believe you have something for me?” I stared at her in disbelief. She looked like she was not much older than me.

     “I’m sorry… this may sound rude, but are you really Ms. West, the CEO of Yousee?”

     Eva broke into a small laugh.

     “Yes, I am the CEO of Yousee. I guess you expected someone much older?” Eva continued to laugh and motioned for me to follow her. She led me to the end of the hallway, where a single door stood unopened.

     “I was only fourteen years old when I came up with the Yousee VR mask. I have always wanted to live in a perfect world--to escape from reality.” Eva slowly pushed open the door and I found myself in a room entirely covered with glass windows. In the middle of the room, there was an empty, white desk with a single chair.

     “Don’t you want to escape from reality? I think everyone does. Oh, and you can put the package there.” Smiling, Eva sat down behind her desk and started opening the package. “I think James sent me the latest model for the VR mask. Do you want to try it on?”

     I forced a smile. “No, I’m okay. I don’t--”

     “You don’t like the game?” Eva interrupted me, suddenly looking up at me with a curious look.

     “No, I do like the game. It’s just…”

     “Then, try it on!” Eva smiled and fished the VR mask out of the wrap and handed it to me. “With this one, it has an eye hole so you can see reality when you switch off from the game. When you turn it on, then you can see Yousee. Right now it’s off.”

     With my hands slightly shaking from the effort, I placed the mask on my face and opened my eyes. I could still see Eva smiling up at me.

     “I can still see you.”

     “I know. That’s the whole point of this model.” Eva smiled.

     “You sure it’s off?” I asked.

     “Positive. You can give me back the mask now.” Eva took the mask from me and wrapped it again with the bubble wrap. “You know another thing about this model…”

     Eva started going into the details and the stories behind it. But, I was no longer listening nor looking at her face now. I was too absorbed in what lay around her. Through the giant glass windows, I could see miles and miles of buildings stretching out into the distance. As I continued to stare, I realized that the streets were barren and vines were starting to climb up some of the old concrete buildings. Bridges were crumbling down; rubble and dust dominated the neighborhood. The entire city below me looked like an old, colorless painting that started to wear away at the edges--the city became a place that I no longer wanted to call home.

     I slowly turned to look at Eva again. She had stopped talking.

     “Do you think the world has changed drastically over the years?” I asked, my pulse suddenly quickening. For a split second, I thought I had seen Eva flicker. Then, her image quickly became still and normal once again.

     “Yes, I guess so.” Eva rose from her desk and beckoned me to follow her to the edge of the room. As I walked, I felt my hands clench and I tried to swallow the enormous amount of anger boiling in my chest.

     “Do you think the change began when people started to get addicted to Yousee?” I asked. My face was now red with suppressed rage, and when Eva smiled at me again, I just snapped. Everything that happened next was a blur. I quickly swung around and pushed Eva towards the window with all the strength I had. I did not hear the glass shatter or Eva scream as she fell. But as I watched her fall, something strange happened: before she reached the ground, Eva flickered and turned into a pixelated image before disappearing into thin air, the mask still hidden inside the bubble wrap in its box behind me.