Welcome, Soleil, to Crystalline. Victory awaits you. But first you must choose; Light or Dark?
I hit left and pressed circle.
Are you sure?
Circle.
You have chosen Light. Choose your class; Fairy, Elf, Light Mage, Cleric, or Knight?
Right, right, circle.
Are you sure?
Circle.
You have chosen Light Mage. Please wait while we generate your character.
I felt a searing pain throughout my body. I wanted to cry out, but it was gone as soon as it started.
Is this character design alright?
I saw an exact copy of myself, only I was wearing white robes and holding a tome in my left hand and a staff in my right. Perfect. Circle.
Are you ready?
I smiled to myself, pressing circle. I was born ready.
Once you confirm, you cannot go back until you complete the first mission. Are you sure you want to continue?
I pressed circle again.

I took careful steps as I walked into the almost empty store. It was late, almost eleven. The sky had just lost all it's color to darkness, and the clouds were beginning to weep from their losses. My sneakers squeaked as I walked on the hard, tiled floor. The clerk took a double take when he saw me. Or should I say my hair. Mother says that green is disgraceful and that I never should have died it in the first place, but I wasn't the one who died it, really. It was Savannah, an old friend of mine before we moved out of Arizona. It was hard leaving her, but eventually I got used to it. It's too wet here though. The state of Ohio is boring enough without all these constant showers.

The clerk shook his head at me and proceeded to stick his nose in his phone again. I sighed. Why does no one understand the concept that there are real people in the world? Phones are meant for communication, yet people use them to block out the people around them. Doesn't make much sense, does it? Then again, that's why I'm here.

A few seconds of searching and my eyes fall upon it. There on a dusty, old shelf is what I'm looking for. I smiled and grab it, not looking back.

The clerk just stares at me as I put the item up on the counter. I stare back, prepared to grab my wallet and show him my ID that proves I'm old enough to own this game, but he doesn't say a word. He just stares at me like I'm dumb.

"What?" I finally ask, irritated. The clerk opens his mouth while rolling his eyes.

"You need a VR set in order to play this game," he says. I raise my eyebrow. VR set? I didn't know this was a virtual reality game. Do I need an Occulus?

"I already have the PS8," I say. "Isn't that enough?" The clerk just laughs and shakes his head, looking back down at his phone. He points behind me, causing me to look out of curiosity.

"VR sets are right there," he says. I frown and walk over to retrieve one. I slip on water that I tracked in from before, falling on my backside and getting my dark jeans wet. I look behind me to see if the clerk saw that. He was too preoccupied to look at me. Good. Keep staring at your phone. Maybe one day it'll ask you to marry it. Hopefully it does, because no girl is ever gonna wanna date you.

I grab the VR set and shove it up on the counter. He rings everything up as slowly as possible, tormenting me. I could practically see the seconds go by as I stared at his hands putting the items in the bag. I swear, I could've seen numbers on the back of them.

The total game up to about $235, but I had been saving for quite some time for this game. I was waiting for three years for it to come out, I had a lot of time to fill up my piggy bank.

Finally, I'm free to go. I hurry outside and jump in my car, wanting nothing more than to go home and install the device driver software.

The sky is still crying when I reach my house. Perhaps it is smarter than me, more knowlegable about decisions. Maybe it knew what I didn't know. They sky was mourning the loss of something very dear to it. Ame was calling my name. I could hear her through the pitter patter of raindrops on my windshield. I've come to accept Ame as a friend. My dear friend was warning me of a horrible tradgedy that was sure to come.

If only I had listened.

The time for this story is set on 23 May 2119.