Every morning around five o'clock, the house always felt brand new. A crisp chill had settled, with amber streaks cutting through kitchen windows. Dressed in a hoodie and jeans, Fee felt pumped up with a new sense of purpose, a feeling that this was going to be a good day. Pouring out some cereals, she kept an eye on the coffee machine, while it fed a hot stream of Americano into a square blue mug. While waiting, her thoughts turned to Rick; how he stuck around, unlike her so-called work buddies who had suddenly felt the need to go radio silent. Through no fault of her own, she still felt guilty. Fee popped a blister pack of Microdycoatmins and scooped the tablets into her mouth. It wouldn't keep the monsters out of her head, just put them to sleep.

  ***

  Most of the bunker was drenched in velvety darkness, with a single spot over the workbench. Once the fifteen rats were done, Fee shovelled them into a large potato sack and put it on one side. Afterwards, she inspected a coffee machine with its soil-like granules. Against her better judgment, Fee sniffed at the pot and backed away, coughing slightly.

  Bad idea.

  Making a mental note to order more coffee (and a machine), Fee followed a group of cables snaking from the base of a ball turret, toward a large cylinder topped with three red bulbs. She wondered if it was worth being a gamer. A part of her baulked at the idea of wasting days or even months for the promise of an imaginary reward, but remembered there was nothing else to do all Summer. She could have stayed in her room, but that had somewhat lost appeal. Nor was she keen on finding herself under her mother's feet for the rest of the day. Taking a deep breath, Fee climbed into the turret, locking the door behind her. Buckled in, she traced a finger over the surface of the CorDex 'Money Deck' and watched blue squares rotate in sequence.

  The clock in the basement read: 6.18 am. Go time.

  ***

  9.00 am. – Fee becomes adept at the tutorial mode, to the point where it is almost second nature. She learns better spatial awareness, and soon threads through the green rings a lot faster. Dies three times. Ten-minute rest.

  11.23 am – Exits tutorial mode. Fights easy, boss. Levels up to yellow. Enemy planes swarmed her rear, until hunger pangs kick in, causing her to lose concentration. She spends more time thinking about peanut butter sandwiches. Leaves to get a sandwich. Watches the last half hour of E.T. Amy points out how the full title of E.T is Extra Terrestrial: The Extra Terrestrial, but Fee is too pre-occupied by a stealth mission, she keeps failing.

  2.00 pm. – The stealth mission is finally accomplished. Enemy jets were sneaky, but the number of times Fee died is reduced dramatically. She starts getting the hang of barrel-rolling out of certain death. Rick returns with a new coffee machine and a bag of Americano. Fee is overjoyed. They grab a coffee, make out and chat for an hour. Rick finds a door behind a stack of tyres, thinking it might be a toilet. The two of them discuss whether it is worth using. Amy is not on board with the idea.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  4.45 pm – Fee is fully adept at slipping under bridges. Her skill level soars as she blazes into firefights with multiple enemy targets. Overconfidence gets the better of her, which leads to quick deaths. Supper time is a Spinach Quiche. She complains bitterly about how cheap the enemy is. Amy pretends to care.

  7.00 pm – Another stealth mission. This one requires a low altitude to sneak under the radar. Frustration spills into recklessness. Level fail. She exits the ball turret and wonders if it is worth getting coffee. Has coffee. Decides to finish the level.

  9.30 pm – Rick is back. After flicking through the manual, Fee discovers the option to take phone calls during the game. Rick tests it out. It worked! Fee can talk to Rick without leaving the turret. She calls herself "FoxLight". Rick is denied the name: ‘Lantern’ and called: "Knob Waffle." She starts the S-Rank levels, where everything is a nightmare. This amuses Rick to no end.

  11.45 pm - Rick goes home, just in time for Fee to experience rage-quit mode. She receives a phone call from Amy. They have hot chocolate. Fee is thinking of giving up the Fortress level, because it is too tough. Amy reminds her she didn't raise a quitter, saying: "Young lady, you get back in there and waste your life until it is finished." Before quickly adding: "The game that is, not your life."

  2.00 am - Fee was getting tired. Almost at breaking point, she remembers her mother's words: "No one won a prize for hugging the mat." Determined, she fires up the turret once again. The Sensurama is running hot. The air tastes old and metallic. Fee’s head feels like it is full of water. She doubts everything. Why am I here? I don’t have to do this. I’ve got all summer to play. I feel strange, like…I can’t leave it undone. I want to win for myself, because everyone’s depending on me. Wait, no it's a game. She rolls her shoulders; muscle memory in lockstep with the targeting reticule.

  2.20 am - The last three elite planes are a pain to take down. No escape. She dies multiple times. In the corner, she sees it. The waterfall has a sinkhole! Three planes swarm her six; she rolls out of missile fire. Yanking the flight stick, she points the jet skywards, then dive-bombs toward the waterfall. The other jets scream past, but miss. Before they can catch up, she is already underground. The cockpit shakes as the G's pile on Fee's frame, alarms howl in her ears, and she grits her teeth. The walls are too close.

  2.35 am – The secret tunnel opens out into the centre of the fortress. Careful not to shred her wings, Fee comes out to the underground hangar, which returns flak fire in her direction. She is all over it like Christmas morning: strafing enemy guns, shredding towers and unleashing missiles which explode from all sides. Darting away from the rolling inferno, Fee escapes as the fortress collapses. Outside, the Elite planes are the first to greet her. She quickly rakes one with gunfire. Splash one. The second one flies up in sympathy, before being taken out with a broadside attack. Two down. The last one flies like an eagle, and it's on point.

  2.45 am - The missile detection alarm screams, a loose sidewinder catches Fee's plane and goes into a graveyard spiral. She grabs the flight stick with both hands, fighting to level out. The other jet closes in for a finishing move, but in a 'dying grenade' moment, Fee rotates 180 degrees, before firing all her missiles at once. The enemy is swallowed up in a storm of hellfire. Nothing is left. The screen goes black. Job done. No fanfare, no cut-scene. It just ends. The V.R. dribbles back to reality.

  ***

  Fee looked around, confused. "That’s it?”

  Too tired to swear, everything about her was on fumes. She tried to stretch, but her bones had become jellified, causing her to wobble and steady herself. Is this what it means to be a serious gamer? The dopamine hit of success, followed by the emptiness of reality? On her way out, she saw all three red bulbs lit up, with a small receipt protruding from the slot. Fee studied what looked like a lottery ticket.

  A receipt.

  It took all of her remaining effort not to screw the paper up in disgust and flush it down the toilet. Closing her fist, she trudged off to bed.