I grab my dark blue duffle bag from the entrance and run out of my house. I run fast; I'm going to be late. Soon, I arrive at my destination, a tall building with giant glass windows. I push open the door and I rush thru the lobby. For a second, I consider taking the elevator, but there's no time for that. I climb the step two at a time, open the seventh-floor door and I run to the last room of the long white hallway. I look at my watch, 4:39, it starts in one minute. I enter the spacious room to see my two best friends and my girlfriend waiting for me. I unzip my bag and get my body sensor suit.

"Sorry! I'm late! Will one of you help me put this on?" I say looking at my friends, trying to take my pants off, and to put on the tight suit at the same time. I struggle to put on the legs so I look up at my friends begging for help. Then something clicks in my mind, none of them are wearing their suit, they are just in normal clothes, smirking at me struggling.

"Don't panic Asher! You are an hour early; we change to time on your watch so you would not be late like always." Jules tells me

I roll my eyes at them but still thank them, without them I would have been late. Jules won a special mission on "The ligne". It's a Virtual reality game, we have body sensor suit to fell the pain, sensor gloves to feel the weapon in our hands, VR headset, to hear and see everything. Jules won a really important mission for four players, if we accomplish the goal, we could level up a lot.

Amber, my sweet girlfriend, help me put on my suit and I help her put hers on. We activate the multiway conveyor belts, integrated into the floor. With those things, we can walk in every direction while staying at the same place in real life. Five minutes before the start of the mission, we activate our headsets and our microphones. I enter the game and see my friend's avatars next to mine.

Amber's avatar has the same short brown hair, green eyes, and sweet freckled face as my girlfriend. The avatar is wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. She's also wearing a khaki vest. I know that the vest is full of small pockets hiding little knives. My girl has a strong preference for knives and she's really good at using those sharp blades. She's also really good with martial art.

Then there's Jules, our captain. Him, and his avatar, have messy blond hair and small dark eyes. The avatar has a very strong jaw, while Jules's is just average. The avatar is wearing a stained hoodie and a jean jacket. A giant shotgun is hanging from his shoulder. He loves to show off and shot bullets thru the heads of his enemies. He also loves exploding things.

On my right, there is a tall chocolate skinned teen, Ethan, the fourth member of our group. Like in real life, his avatar is super muscular. He's wearing normal clothes and a black cap. Two pistols are hanging from his belt. A crowbar and an ax are peeking out of a dark blue backpack ready to be used for a stealth kill.

And last but not least, there's me, Asher. An average guy with messy dark brown hair and hazel eyes. My avatar is wearing a beige t-shirt underneath a camouflage vest, similar looking to Amber's. I have a brown backpack holding my three snipers. I'm the mind of the team, the smart one and I'm also the one killing from afar. My friends often call me the Shadow killer as a joke. They say that I'm their secret weapon.

Soon enough, the game start. A deep voice resonates in my headphones.

"Hello, players. This mission will be different than any mission you've ever done, not only cause it's in reality mode but because you will not play again other players. You will play against NPCs (Non-Player Characters), smart NPCs. May I explain the situation of the mission? Last night, one of you has been kidnaped by a group of rebels. The mission will be to save the player held captive. The prisoner can also try to escape on his own, but it's not going to be easy. Oh, by the way, the rebel group is composed of more than 500 people. Good luck players."

A countdown starts in front of me and my avatar appears in the post-apocalyptic world of the game. I'm on a hill and I can clearly see a building teeming with people. I spot Ethan and Jules close to me, but there is no sign of Amber. I hear a muffled scream on my right, where my girlfriend is in real life, but I don't think much of it. I have to save my girlfriend and I 'm sure she's in the building.

"Ok, so Amber is the one that's been kidnapped. I don't like the fact that they chose the only girl, I have a bad feeling about that." Jules says, putting in words how I feel.

"Same, that's why we have to save her. Urghh, I hate the fact that it's always the girl who's in distress, it's so cliché!" Ethan says, already moving forward the building.

"Don't worry guys, Amber is strong, I'm sure she's okay," I say more for myself then for my friends.

We start running to get there quickly. Ethan gives me his ax; my sniper won't be very useful inside an edifice. We choose to kill the least people as possible, trying not to get noticed by anyone. We sneak into the building and I come up with a plan, take out guys and steal their clothes, that way, we can get in the building unnoticed. It's weird, everyone in this building is wearing chic white clothes. With the side of my ax, I hit the head of one man and he falls to the ground. I quickly bring him behind in a corner of an empty room and I take his clothes. Quickly, I put on the white pants, shirt, and white blazer. I don't know how to put on a tie so Jules helps me with that. Now, we look like every other man in this strange place. We walk out of the room as if we know where we are going, expect, we have no idea where my baby girl is. So, I take the initiative and go talk to someone.

"Hey!" I say to a random man

"Hi, Dan! How's life going?" he says. I don't know who Dan is, but I'm happy to look like him.

"Fine! I'm on...surveillance duty for the girl we took prisoner last night." I say, hoping that my lie makes sense.

"Oh, surveillance duty..." the man says while winking. "The one we've put in the basement? Apparently, she's no fun. She's kind of pretty but she's a little bitch."

No fun? A bitch? MY girl is amazing and those men have no right of talking about her like that! She's caring and funny. We can talk for hours and I never get bored. She a cutie pie and she loves to cuddle on my bed while watching Disney movies. This asshole will NEVER deserve a girl like her.

I breathe deeply and I try to calm myself, he's just an NPC, I need to chill. I say goodbye to him and I get back to my friends.

"The basement," I say before they can say anything.

"Are you okay Asher? Your avatar is all red and he looks mad." Ethan asks

"The dude said... things about Amber" I say before breathing deeply again

Jules's avatar put a hand on my back and push me toward the elevator.

"Let's go save your girl before something happens to her. We all care about Amber dude; you are not the only one who will riot if anything happens to her" he says pushing the button to call the elevator. The elevator arrives quickly and, at the same time the doors open, a blaring alarm goes on. A robotic voice can be heard saying "Intruder have penetrated in the building" again and again. And my avatar's face, along with my Jules's and Ethan's, get displayed everywhere on the walls. Naturally, people spot us and start shooting. We enter the open elevator and we start shooting back. I use my sniper but it's not very useful. Bullets arrive from everywhere and come very close to touching us. The elevator doors shut, protecting us from the fire shots. We get down to the basement.

When we get out of the elevator, we just shoot everyone we see. In a corner of the room is Amber. Her hands are attached to a pole and she's gagged. She has bruises all over her body, and a giant cut on the side of her face. A giant red spot on her shirt indicates she's bleeding. I run to her and remove the piece of tissue on her mouth. I take a knife from one of her pockets, I cut the rope and she falls in my arms, looking exhausted and weak. I slowly drop on my knees, holding under her arms. Her head rests on my lap, I remove her short heir of her face and I softly say:

"Amber, baby, it's just a game. You are not really hurt. Please get up..."

She looks at me with her sparkly green eyes and says.

"Ash, it's not the game... not totally..." she's crying saying those words.

"Yes, baby, it's all an illusion," I say hoping that I'm saying the truth.

"Remove your headset, you'll see baby," she says still crying.

I do, I remove it. I see the same thing that saw before, except that my two friends are wearing headsets. Amber, is not and her wounds are real. No, no! This can't be real! My girlfriend is not dying in my arms. She is not. She can't, how will I live without her? I promise myself that if, not if, when we get out of whatever is happening, I'll propose to her.

"Jules, Ethan!" I scream "Get here please, she dying... for real" my voice cracks as I say those last words.

"It's a game dude," Ethan says.

I tell them to remove their headsets and when they do, they run to where I am with Amber.

"Okay, what is this bullshit?" Jules screams, in the small and humid basement.

"When the game started, someone stabbed me and brought me here," Amber says.

"This is true and this bullshit is a test of a way to take over the world." Say a female voice thru a speaker. "We've found a way of making you believe things. Some of what you saw was real, some of it wasn't. You see, we've..."

I cut her off "I don't care about the way you did that! I just want Amber to get medical service! I'll do anything for you, just please help her!" I scream crying

"I'm sorry boys, but she won't survive, and neither will any of you. You know too much about our secret project" she says.

Jules hit me on the shoulder and point a flashing red light. Sadly, I know what it is... a bomb.

"I'm 50% sure that it won't explode," Jules says with hope.

I'm notdumb, it's a bomb, it will explode. I have to realize the facts; we are all going to die. Amber uses her last strength to cuddle against my torso. I hug her and whisper:

"I love you, Amber."

"I love you, Asher."

And then, a loud boom and I can confirm a fact:

When you die, you see your life pass in front of your eyes.

Face claims:

They are supposed to be all like 16-17 years old (and yes, I know that Thomasin and Casey have blue eyes but they were still the closest to my character)