The best thing about living in New York City as a high school student with limited access to money, booze, and drugs is the amount of free swag one can swipe with only a student ID. Ironically, despite being the most expensive city to live in the entire continent, the city has a surplus of free concerts and conferences for the ambitious yuppies (or aspiring yuppies) who deign to aim for the high society life that all the TV shows featuring the "Big Apple" boasts. Gossip Girl or no, only about 1% of New Yorkers actually own a penthouse, and the rest are living on food stamps and monthly paychecks.

Ok, I made that up. I have no idea how many rich people there actually are in this overrated city, nor do I give a negligible shit. Life isn't always about money, or so I think in my head as I silently judge the Wall Street "finance bros" that sit across me clinking their Prada leather shoes on the 3 train.

I try not to scowl at them as they bend over their iPhones studiously, probably checking their work email. But as if on cue, the blonde 30-something raises his slick head and glances at me.

Scratch that. I could have sworn I've seen that guy on Tinder.

Swipe left, please.

I smirk at him, and he glares at me and then goes back to messaging whichever Tinder slut he was banging at the moment.

For your information, not that you care, I don't actually use dating apps for dating purposes. As a mixed Asian American with a strict disciplinarian Ivy League-educated single parent of two, I can't afford to date anyone. And when I say, can't afford, I mean that quite literally as I am on a full scholarship at my white-as-fuck private school (Most of my used textbooks come from The Strand's sister bookstore, The Deserted Island.)

The only reason I was even on Tinder in the first place (do I sound defensive? I think I sound defensive) was so I could hack into their code base and reverse engineer their matchmaking algorithm. Tinder's known for being one of the first smartphone apps to combine dating and data to bring hook up culture to never-seen-before glorious heights. Being Olympus Academy's first female president of its only 3-member computer science club, it was only inevitable that I hack into the most chauvinistic dating apps ever made as a protest against the overwhelmingly male-empowering dogma of the tech sector in the year 2033.

In other words: just because sex sells doesn't mean I have to buy into this pathetic excuse of code.

Which brings me back to why I'm talking about free swag.

I take a sip of ionized electrolyte-rich water from my environmentally friendly water bottle (which, by the way, I got for free for participating in my high school's annual hackathon) and put it back in the bottle holder compartment of my Underarmour backpack. I rummage through the side compartment of the backpack, checking to see that my freshly minted student id was still there. I look at the laminated card and smirk again before placing it in my jacket pocket.

Well, wouldn't you know.

Your girl, Buffy Jang, is going to be attending the 75th Virtual World Conference as one of the thirty presenters competing for a coveted internship at Eden Realities, the hottest game company to break into the virtual reality space since Oculus. Their hit game World Of Eden snagged the number 1 spot on the most widely played MMO games, hitting a jaw-dropping 150 million player count only a week into its debut. I've been playing WOE since I was 12, and this opportunity was way too good to miss out on.

There was a slight hitch during the application process: the conference was only open to college students. Not a problem for me though. Thanks to my mom's tenured position as professor of abstract mathematics at Columbia (and her esteemed login credentials), I was able to secure an identity (and student ID) as a fresh-off-the-boat college freshman. Technically not a lie since I'm pretty much bound to get into Columbia as an early decision applicant. It's only a matter of time before that hefty acceptance package comes into the mail, deeming me a member of Columbia University's Class of 2038.

All according to plan.

I have got to stop smirking.

Honestly? I've got this internship in the bag. There's absolutely no way my game is going to lose to a bunch of overprivileged WASPy software engineer wannabe males with egos the size of Google's Mountain View office (trust me, I visited a friend there once and the place was HUGE, they even had an organic farm where employees can grow their own vegetables and a petting zoo for all their kids.) I spent the entire summer working on this project instead of composing my college application essays, and it was a summer well spent. Thanks to Xander, who's not only one of my best friends but also a fantastic artist, my VR game has the most stunning visuals of any game to date (ok, slight exaggeration, as World of Eden takes my breath away every time I log into the portal). My game engine, which I developed from scratch instead of using a clunky ancient engine like Unity, was created during a sleepless weekend when I was high off of Adderall and Red Bull (lethal combination, I almost went outside naked a couple of times before the high wore off).

Not only that, I had a secret weapon. World of Eden was known for the first and only MMO VR game to allow players to use voice commands to instruct the game's AI agent to manipulate their environment and actions. No one has ever managed to replicate the secret sauce behind their original and novel algorithm, but I've managed to crack the code.

Did I mention I hack for fun?

Yeah, you got me. I actually managed to steal the credentials of one of Eden Realities' lead engineers for World of Eden and hacked into their code base. Their algorithm for implementing voice commands was surprisingly not that difficult to understand, they kind of ripped off Siri and Alexa, which I really should have expected. What was ingenious though was how they managed to encode the voice commands into code that an AI agent could understand. The AI-powered world building of World of Eden (pun intended) is one of the main reasons I keep on playing the game even after beating the main storyline and maxing out all my powers.

You can probably tell I'm a huge fan of the World of Eden franchise. I even launched a Back to Eden campaign my sophomore year of high school when hackers crashed the game's servers and the game had to go offline for three months. I gathered a bunch of other die-hard fans who were also coders to hack into the Dark Web and track down all of the criminals who dared to touch the Holy Grail. I anonymously sent Eden Realities a file containing intel on the hackers who corrupted Eden. They're all in jail now, thanks to me.

I never told anyone, not even the other members of my club, that I was the girl behind the highly publicized Back to Eden stunt. I do however have an incriminating Back to Eden sticker on my Macbook Pro. As does half the population of the players of World of Eden.

Eden Realities even made me an NPC in their rebooted World of Eden. You may have heard of her: Atheva, the goddess of war and wisdom in their Olympia chapter. Sort of a tribute to my online avatar name.

What can I say? I work for the good of mankind.

"This is 34th Penn Station, next stop 14th Street," the subway automaton announces.

I tuck my phone in my pocket, slinging my backpack across one shoulder as I hop off the train. It's 7:50 am, meaning I have 10 minutes to get to the Virtual World symposium and sign into the conference as one of the presenters. Not a problem, as I've brought my secret weapon: my boosted board.

It's an investment I made to save time and make my commute to school more time and space efficient. Both things I value as a programmer.

I run up the stairs and exit the underworld into the crowded street. Putting my board on the sidewalk, I step onto the board and it automatically zooms down the sidewalk. A horde of pigeons is in my way. They flutter their wings in panic and take flight as I speed through their entrails and ride my way onto the road.

I smile to myself, as the little vampires viciously flap at my head.

Fly high, fuckers. Buffy's coming.

-

The thing about tech conventions (and most conferences in general) is that more than 75% of the time that you pay a hefty $200 for is wasted on tacky demos by infant startups trying to get their Series A funding from venture capitalists. While I was waiting on line to get my presenter badge and complimentary lanyard, I saw 3 quadcopters tied together by a USB cable spinning around the open atrium rooftop. Probably an amateur's attempt at capturing the 3d world in 3d.

Estupidos. The point of a 3d world is to live in it, not to view it on a projector screen.

It sucks that I have to spend half of my day walking around booths and sitting in an auditorium to view seminars by overqualified doctoral students when my presentation time is only 10 minutes. It's like waiting on a long line at the Harry Potter store only to find out that only people below 4 feet tall are allowed in Diagon Alley.

Whatever. Society is fucked. Sometimes I wish the people in charge hired better people to create the rules. But that would be like asking God to step down from his position as lord ruler of the universe to a toddler.

A lot of the time, I get resentful from having to follow asinine authorities who constantly preach about respect and who are the ones I have to suck up to in order to win their game. High school is just one shitshow after another, from having to suck up to teachers just to get glowing recommendation letters for colleges to navigating the brutal social realm to make sure your life isn't a virtual Hell. Life's a lot easier when you have less enemies trying to make your life hard. I like to stay out of trouble and keep to myself, doing the bare minimum to survive school. I want to avoid anything that would prevent me from getting what I want in life. It's like a chess game, follow the rules to win the game, and then make your own rules. I'm glad I'm in my senior year, and after graduating, college, where I'll have a lot more freedom.

The classes at my private school aren't hard, per se, even though I've loaded up on AP classes because Ivy League schools flock to students who have challenging course loads. They don't give that much homework unlike what my friends attending public schools tell me. I have a lot of free time compared to them, which I spend gaming and working on my coding projects. I need to maintain my programming skills, and I kill two birds with one stone by being president of a programming club where I get to spend the time working on independent projects while putting the leadership position on my college application. It's literally the only club I'm involved in right now. In my previous years, I did the classic orchestra gig (I play violin) and volunteered at underserved schools teaching coding to kids.

But now, I want to concentrate on bigger and better things.

"Name?"

I blink and look at the blue haired college student in front of me. She points at the list of attendees in front of me. I take out my fake id and give it to her. She glances at it quickly and finds my name on the list. Shuffling through her pile of badges, she finds mine and hands it to me along with my id.

I smile and take the badge while quickly shoving my fake id in my pocket. The badge is attached to a white lanyard and I slip it over my head. I look at my watch.

8:00 am, on the dot. Now I just need to waste 3 more hours before I get to present in front of 300 people. Perfect.

I head into the auditorium instead of the demo arena, because I want a place to sit while going over my presentation notes and slides. I haven't had time to fully memorize my presentation, because I had some last minute debugging to finish up with my game and then I had to make sure my presentation showed off the brilliance of my work.

I'm not exaggerating. My game is just that great.

I grab a seat in the back of the auditorium, which barely has any people in it. I take out my laptop from my backpack and open up my Powerpoint presentation.

The letters ATHEOS stare back at me in bold black serif font. Underneath the title, the logo Xander designed for me is situated, a symbol of the Godless world I have created.

It's an idea I've had since sixth grade, around the time I stopped believing in God and everything He stood for. I don't want to be one of the jaded millions who become angry at God because of all the shit this useless world throws at us, but...

When you think about it, how can God exist in a world that is so corrupt and broken? Even if He did exist at some point in time, he sure doesn't now. Society is fucked, people are fucked, and life is just a rat race to the finish line, which just ends in death.

End of story.

The truth is, no one gives a fuck about God anymore. The people who play World of Eden don't play it for the useless Christian ideology that it's based on, they play it to unleash their pent-up stress on the demons and monsters that run amok in the game.

Atheos was born out of a moment of frustration with WOE. I was tired of the subtle evangelicalism that was hidden throughout the game trying to convert me to an overrated religion with a cult following of millions. Society's full of people trying to either overpower you or sabotage you (pick the lesser evil). From media propaganda to social hacking and biological warfare to genomic terrorism, there is no shortage of rampant atrocities in this world that claims a God exists.

I'm tired of it. I want a world with true freedom, a world that is free from the power struggles of the day to day, a world where I am free to say what I want, be what I want, where I am free to pursue my goals without naysayers hating on me and trying to sabotage my every move. A world that is honest about its ugliness and not afraid to own it, instead of hiding behind a veneer of lies.

Admit it. There is no God. No one can help you but yourself. Trust no one but yourself.

Maybe, you think that I've fallen from my faith. But who cares? We don't need God. In an age where technology makes anything possible, everything is possible, without God.

That is exactly the sentiment behind my game.

My brainchild is a direct opposite of WOE, which is exactly what makes it stand out, or at least I hope so. It's set in a dystopian society where people are hacked in an endless competition to create the best human, and gene editing technology grants them superhuman abilities. Think faster-than-light running, telekinesis, mind-reading. Mankind is on the hunt for the perfect human to crown as the new God.

There's a plot twist. But, no spoilers. I'll save it for my time in the spotlight.

I smile to myself as I flip through my slides. I also made a video demo that showcases the best scenes from my game, and the judges get a chance to play my game for 10 minutes after my presentation.

Perfect. As expected from the daughter of an overachieving academic who has published over 100 articles in accredited journals on abstract geometry.

My mom always told me, growing up, that I had to do my best and nothing but my best. Wasting my potential would be the utmost sin, she would preach to me as I hunched over my swaths of math homework that she gave me (on top of all the homework I had from school). She's the very example of a quintessential Christian, bordering on unadulterated fanaticism. I wouldn't be surprised if she sprouted Bible verses during her lectures at Columbia. She might as well initiate a cult from her hordes of loyal students who are obsessed with her charismatic teaching.

That's what Christianity is anyway. A cult of worshipers believing that a supreme deity can save them from the madness of the world.

But I digress. My presentation is pretty perfect, and I have a couple of hours to kill before I have to present. Might as well look around some of the booths. Maybe some of the startups presenting will want to hire me.

Haha. As if I would want to join a start up. I've got bigger and better dreams than that.

I close my laptop and shove it in my bag. I sling my backpack around my shoulder and hop up the steps of the auditorium. I check my watch.

8:30 am. Right on time.

If you've been around me enough, you'll learn that one of my many quirks is that I'm incredibly anal with my time. I live life by intervals. Something my mom taught me is that time is expensive, and I plan to budget my time like the precious commodity it is. I've grown so accustomed to living life by the clock that my biological clock is already attuned to my smart watch. I don't need to check my watch every couple of minutes, I innately know what time it is. When I was younger, I didn't have this skill. Some kids in elementary school thought they could bully me by calling me a robot, because I checked my watch all the time.

That's a compliment, losers.

Anyway, I got to figure out how to make the best of my remaining time. I check the program the volunteer gave me when I checked in. Apparently, there's a seminar from 9 – 10 on the applications of AI in the metaverse. That sounds pretty interesting. And presentations start at 10, so the timing is perfect.

All right. Time to check up on some losers' start ups.

I enter the demo area, and immediately a booth catches my eye. Or rather, this person.

A guy, specifically.

He's too hot.

To be real.

Not only that, he's way too good looking to belong in this sea of nerds.

Also.

So. Tall.

He has this cultured look about him, the way his black bangs are carefully swept across his forehead and how he's gesticulating at the pair of --

Wait, are those...

Shit. I need a pair. Right now.

I sprint to his booth. He notices me and smiles and keeps on talking to the two college girls, who were obviously infatuated with him from the way they kept on nodding and panting at him. I shove my hands in my pockets. God, I feel awkward.

Also, I hate waiting.

But he's holding up these really cool glasses. I think I've seen them somewhere. They're different from the normal VR glasses I use to play WOE. They're a lot smaller and sleeker, for one.

To play VR games, you have to buy this custom state-of-the-art headset that comes with a pair of glasses. The headset's super bulky and heavy. I have to lie on my bed while wearing them, and that makes for a really awkward experience.

I have a good feeling about this.

About the glasses, I mean. Not the guy.

The girls finally leave, and Mr. Sex God smiles at me again. I look away and say,

"Hey."

The side of his mouth raises up a bit, making him even more appealing, and he reaches his hand out to me.

"Hey, I'm Luke. What's your name?"

I quickly put my hand in his and shake it a bit before shoving my hand back into my pocket.

"Buffy."

He laughs, like everyone who I tell my name to, which is why I try to avoid introducing myself to anyone unless a gun is pointed to my head.

"Buffy? Like the Vampire Slayer?"

I nod sheepishly.

"It's a nickname. I hate my real name so I just tell people to call me Buffy. I'm going to get it legally changed eventually."

He laughs again. He has a nice laugh, one of those laughs that are kind of fake but no one can tell that he's faking it because he's perfected it and he's definitely not going to admit that he's only being polite unless he has a gun pointed to his head.

"Mine's a nickname too, because I'm obsessed with Star Wars."

I look up at him, astonished. Already we have something in common. Two things in common actually because I also love Star Wars. I have every single movie, game, figurine released from the franchise, and I even have a poster that's signed by the one and only George Lucas.

"Seriously?" I goggle at him.

He smirks.

"No."

I frown.

Damn. Guess we're not soulmates. Saw that coming.

I change the topic.

"So, what do those glasses do?"

Mr. Skywalker holds up his visor like glasses and gestures at them.

"These? They're mixed reality glasses."

"Nice. I love mixed."

Glasses, I mean. Not people.

Though he kind of resembles a mix between an elf prince and a Greek god.

Or maybe he's just half Asian.

"I'm half Asian too," I blurt out without thinking.

He raises an eyebrow.

Shit. I really need to filter my thoughts better.

"I mean, what do those glasses do?"

Before I can react, and usually I have a fast reaction, Luke moves closer to me and slides the mixed reality glasses over my eyes.

"Try it out."

He hands me a remote controller and turns on the application on his laptop.

Holy shit.

In a second, my world has changed.

I've never seen anything like this. I've heard of mixed reality, it's been around since Pokemon Go, but I thought that it was just a fad that died because of all the news headlines on how it was too dangerous to be hunting for Pokemon while walking. Pokemon Go is way before my time, and I still don't get why it was so popular, why would you want to play a game while walking anyway? Everyone knows multi tasking is bad for you. I'd rather lie on my bed or sit in my comfortable chair at home if I want to game.

But this is different.

It's like Iron Man taken to the next level.

I still see the venue but there's an overlay. Unlike the virtual reality game that completely transforms my world into a fantasy rendition, I'm seeing layers of added features. I experiment by pressing on the remote controller, and I see that I can turn on and off features.

A keyboard pops up along with a control center. A pop up shows up in front of my face.

"Type in your name."

I reach out and poke at the keyboard in front of me. Letters appear at the touch of a button. I can't feel anything, but I'm definitely doing something.

Holy Shit.

I see Luke smiling behind the virtual keyboard.

"Cool, right?"

I hand him the remote and start interacting with the mixed environment with both of my hands. I can customize everything from the controls to the people around me.

"I've never seen anything like this, except in science fiction movies. How the hell did you do this?"

"We have a team of extremely skilled engineers working for us. It took a while to get this prototype done and there's still some kinks that need to be ironed out, but we're onto a pretty good start. We're thinking of putting it on the market sometime in the next quarter."

I continue messing around with the layout of my environment. I pinch a corner of the screen and something that looks like Mount Fuji pops up.

"What's your goal with these glasses though? Do you have a game that comes with them?"

Luke grins and presses a button on the remote. I gasp as my entire terrain changes.

I've seen this before. The dynamic scenery around me is a direct copy from the latest package update to WOE. They added a new site called Dathus, which is some sort of aquatic underworld where you get to fight mermaids and shit. Not even kidding.

The only difference is, I can still see the IRL people around me. They don't have a clue that they're suddenly submerged in WOE, since they're carrying on like normal.

"I forgot to introduce our company. We're Eden Enterprises' newest subsidiary, Exodus. I'm the founder and president, and we've been developing new tech for World of Eden."

Exodus? That's funny, my dog's name is Exodus. What a coincidence.

Oh wait, I shouldn't say that out loud.

I have no idea what to say to that though, so I just keep on fiddling with the interface.

Luke keeps on talking.

"We have a lot of plans for World of Eden. I can't share that with you right now, but let's just say that Exodus is going to revolutionize virtual reality gaming. Our mixed reality technology is the most novel tech since the iPhone, and that was decades ago."

And talking.

"We created our own game engine that's separate from WOE, we kind of had to because we wanted to incorporate augmented reality and WOE is strictly virtual. I'm sure you know that augmented reality first kicked off with Pokemon Go and then it sort of died because of all the ethical problems that came up. We're rebooting mixed reality so that it combines features of the metaverse with our physical reality as is."

Is he an extrovert? I think he's an extrovert. Do you think he's an extrovert? I think you think that too.

Exodus' extroverted executive.

Hilarious.

I'm kind of tired of hearing him talk, so I take off the mixed reality glasses and hand them to him. It's a pretty cool technology, but I've got my own presentation to worry about, and I also want to check out the competition.

"Thanks, Luke, this is pretty sweet. I need to go prepare for my presentation now."

Luke goes back to his booth, shuffling through some papers.

"Here's my business card if you ever want to chat about cool tech."

I take his card and shove it in my pocket.

"Thanks! Catch you later."

I speed walk back into the auditorium.

Social interactions exhaust me, and this Luke guy talks as if he just chugged several packs of Red Bull.

Hot, but too high octane for me.

Anyway, I think the presentations for the VR competition just started.

Anyway, I think the presentations for the VR competition just started. I grab a seat in the very back of the auditorium. Two guys wearing Google T-shirts are on stage, making motions while wearing VR glasses as the projector shows their game.

All I see though is a lot of pixelated monsters being slashed. The graphic quality is shitty and there's way too much lag. Definitely not competition.

Bored, I get out my laptop again and log into the metaverse, using the venue's WIFI credentials that were on the back of my badge. My custom avatar greets me, an anthropomorphic being with a lion's head, a fox's tail, and the hooves of the mighty faun. It's super cute, although most people wouldn't call lions cute, but Xander can create his own spin on any design. I named my avatar Aslan, because I'm a big fan of Chronicles of Narnia, and it was just so fitting. As you can tell, I'm a huge sci-fi and fantasy nerd.

"Welcome Buffy," Aslan smiles at me.

I type in the terminal,

open meta_chat

The chat application that's built in the metaverse pops up besides Aslan, and I see a list of all my online friends. The ones who are online have a thought bubble icon next to their name.

I have exactly three friends online right now. Not surprising, since I only have three friends in real life.

Xander, Damien, and Charlie.

Don't ask why they're all only guys. Girls hate me. I have no idea why.

Right as I'm about to ping Xander about how shitty the current presenters' game graphics are, Damien messages me. His avatar, a mix between a dragon and a samurai, pops up next to Aslan. They bow to each other.

Damien: How's the conference going?

Buffy: currently, not going. I'm just sitting and watching some googler wannabees presenting a shitty excuse of a vr game.

Damien: lol. That bad?

Buffy: even worse. But I did get to see a cool demo. Ever heard of mixed reality glasses?

Damien: no shit.

Buffy: yes shit. This guy demoed me his glasses, apparently his company got acquired by eden and they're going to be making woe augmented reality... or at least a part of it

Damien: you shitting me?

Buffy: stop talking about shit.

Damien: can't help it, my lactose intolerance renders me shit-prone.

Buffy: you shit me not.

Damien: lol.

Damien: gotta go, next period's starting. Good luck with your presentation.

Buffy: thanks. See you later

Damien's avatar bows at Aslan again and vanishes.

Damien's one of my best friends, and one of the two other people besides me in my not-so-popular computer science club. I founded it back when I was a freshman because I wanted to find the other programmers in my high school to collab on a project. I literally had to scour the entire 800-person school to find two people willing to join a club led by a girl who has zero people skills. Funny enough, despite my lack of social savvy, I quickly became friends with Damien and Charlie and often served as a mediator between the two during their couple fights.

Why else would two completely hot guys be friends with me? Of course they had to be gay.

I'm kind of a magnet for gay guys, and they're the only type of people I hang out with. I get too anxious to talk to straight guys in general in casual settings, because I have a tendency to crush on them before even a sentence comes out of their mouth. I'm too much of a nerd and tomboy to fit in with the rest of the female population at school, I have no idea what to talk about with them. I'm not bad looking, but most guys view me as their friend, so I tend to stay away from the ones that I can potentially crush on.

Though I have to admit I did crush on both Damien and Charlie before I found out they were dating. They were really secretive about it in the beginning. I only found out when I saw them holding hands in Central Park during winter break. They didn't notice me though, those two love birds.

I had to pretend I didn't know they were in a relationship when they finally came out to me sophomore year. I think they probably knew I was in on the secret when I stopped avoiding making eye contact with them.

Damien must have messaged Charlie because just a minute after Damien exited my screen, Charlie's avatar, a phoenix in a kimono appeared next to Aslan. They bow to each other.

Charlie: Damien told me you saw something cool at the conference?

Buffy: yeah, there was this guy with some sort of mixed reality glasses. Apparently world of eden is gonna be IRL now

Charlie: sweet. I wish I could have seen it, calculus is boring without you.

Buffy: miss you too

Charlie: hope you know. Actually, no, I know you're going to win lol.

Buffy: thanks for the vote of confidence 😊

Charlie: gonna go now, next period's starting soon. Let me know how your presentation goes.

Buffy: yeah! Ttyl

Charlie's phoenix exits my screen. Aslan gives a big roar, opening his mouth to reveal his sharp canines. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of those bad boys.

Damien and Charlie played a small part in my VR game by doing user testing and helping me squash some bugs, but they didn't play a big enough role to merit them attending the conference and presenting with me. Plus they both have a midterm today and being the type A neurotic overachievers like me, they couldn't and wouldn't miss school for this.

Also, they're not as obsessed with World of Eden as much as I am. They just joined the computer science club because they needed a club room where they could make out in private at school.

Oh that's right, I need to talk to Xander.

I click on Xander's avatar, a long haired elf with gigantic breasts, and message him.

Buffy: hey xander

Xander: hey! How's the conference going?

Buffy: saw this cool demo, but otherwise, nothing promising. The guy who just presented had the worst graphics I've ever seen. We're going to win.

Xander: you're going to win, you mean. I just helped design the characters.

Buffy: couldn't have done it without you, xan.

Xander: you know it, buff!

Buffy: lol

Xan and I go way back. We first became friends in kindergarten when our teacher gave me a doll to play with and xan got legos. I wanted his legos, he wanted my doll. Instant friends.

Everyone thinks Xan is gay, because of the way he talks like an educated feminist. But he doesn't swing just that way. He classifies himself as pansexual and doesn't judge people by their gender or appearance. That's one of my favorite things about him.

He's the most unique person I've ever met. He was the one who got me into WOE. I was always into programming, like my dad, but I didn't see the hype around playing fantasy RPGs. Xan convinced me the moment he put a headset on my head and showed me how to pick up a sword to fight the demons in the game.

Fighting demons, in real life or in the virtual world, is something I've grown accustomed to doing. World of Eden was like therapy for me, a kind of therapy that I didn't need to shell out hundreds of dollars for every week, a guide that taught me how to get over my mental health issues using subtle psychology and scenarios similar to real life situations. World of Eden was my savior, and Xander was the angel who guided me to it.

I'm forever grateful to him.

Oh shit. I've lost track of time.

I check my watch. It's 5 minutes to 11. I'll be up next.

Buffy: gotta go, xan! I'm up next

Xander: good luck, you got this.

Buffy signs off.

I quickly sprint away from my seat and into the presenters' room that leads to the stage.

The stage room is full of presenters huddled over their respective laptops. I guess I was the only one who was interested in the other presenters' demos to watch them. Everyone else were concerned over their own presentation. There are some lockers where I can put my stuff in while I'm on stage. I take out my laptop and shove my backpack and jacket into the locker.

I'm confident though. I've practiced my presentation a bunch, and I wanted to scope out the competition.

A girl with pink highlights in her hair and two buns at opposite sides of her head calls out my name.

"Buffy Jang? You're up."

Show time.

Pulling my shoulders back, I saunter onto the stage. I give my laptop to the guy in charge of the projector, and he pulls up my video.

Taking the mic from the moderator, I give the audience a big smile and turn the charm on several notches.

"Hello everyone, my name is Buffy Jang and I'm presenting my VR game Age of Atheos."

I press on the clicker they've given me, and my game shows up on the giant screen. Two twin dragons are circling around each other and a lone warrior princess is holding her sword up to the sky.

"Age of Atheos is not just a VR game, it's an experience. I've created my own game engine that uses machine learning to tailor the player's experience based on the action he or she takes in the game. I used supervised learning, specifically classification and linear regression which are types of machine learning algorithm, to pave new possibilities for the player. With Age of Atheos, possibilities are limitless."

I gesture at the moderator and he gives me a VR headset. After putting it on, I click on the controller and what I see in my vision, the audience sees on the projector.

"I'm going to show you how my game teaches the player through the choices they make to improve their skills. And it's not just in the game, AOA enhances the player's abilities in real life as well. Let me show you."

I click on a saved slot in my menu and I enter a battle between my player and an army of demon mages and soldiers.

My player raises her sword, and a prompt pops up.

"Kill demon soldier or demon mage?"

I say "Soldier."

"Slash soldier's head? Or stomach."

"Stomach."

I pierce through each demon's stomach with her sword and a gush of vermin and blood rushes out of their stomachs. The demons scream and evaporate into black smoke. Triumphant, I raise my sword. Another prompt shows up.

"You gain 100 points for Holy Warrior. You lose 10 points for Holy Mage."

I explain to the audience what just happened.

"Every time you arrive at a decision point, the game shows you a prompt. Using voice assisted technology, the game perceives the command you give it and runs the command through a computational neural network. By using linear regression, the model can predict the course the player takes throughout the game. Everytime I use my sword to kill a demon, I gain leverage as a warrior but lose reputation as a mage. Every time I kill a person instead of a demon, my Sin rating goes up. The game analyzes all of your actions and constantly updates the endgame for you. The game even changes as you make various decisions. AOA is not your typical blueprint of a VR game. There are infinite possibilities within the game."

I end with my final words.

"In AOA, anything is possible."

A silence, and then a thunder of applause fills the room. The judges, who were typing away at their laptops, stand up and give me an ovation.

I smile and take off my headset. I hand the controller and the headset to the moderator and shake his hand. Before leaving on the stage, I see him. Luke. He has his arms crossed and is leaning against the exit. I catch his eye, and he gives me a thumbs up.

Turning away, I hide a smirk.

Nailed it, as per usual.

I'm coming, Dad.