‘In we go then,’ said Tom.
‘I’ll show you Skye,’ muttered Zak under his breath. He always psyched himself up at the start of a mission, and this time he had Skye’s taunts ringing in his ears as extra motivation.
His gaming chair tilted back into its reclined position, putting Zak almost horizontal. It was generously padded, and so comfortable that he immediately started to feel as if he was floating. Over the head rest lay the Mind Mat – the standard interface for virtual reality. By simply resting his head on the Mind Mat and closing his eyes, he would experience the game in his mind. By feeding his five senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch; and the body’s internal sense of orientation and movement, the Mind Mat would completely immerse him in the virtual world. And to prevent distraction, it would limit any external stimuli such as sound from reaching his in-game consciousness.
To leave a game, Zak simply had to express the intention to leave and force open his real eyes. For anyone on the outside, it was a little more difficult to get his attention.
Zak let the back of his head sink into the Mind Mat, and closed his eyes.
*
Solid white letters emerged against a black background and falling snow – “Mission 3: Castle Arkanovich”. This lasted several seconds while the level loaded.
Zak found himself standing in deep snow alongside his three team-mates, Tom, Van and Arnie. Only Tom hid behind his avatar, while everyone else was skinned as their true selves. That was not obvious, since all bar Zak represented extremes. Little Arnie was stuck in a ten-year-old’s body. He was dwarfed by Van, whose lanky frame was the consequence of growing too fast. Van even stretched over the mighty Tom, whose over-muscular body appeared to push the limits of avatar design. Zak was rarely happy to be average, but made an exception for body shape.
