The game world faded, edges blurring until Mav found herself adrift in a quiet, semi-dark space. A soft blue border shimmered into view, sparkling faintly at the edges. A calm voice spoke in her ear, each word mirrored as text inside the glowing frame.

  “Thank you for playing Eclipse Nexus, Umbra scenario. As this is your first logout, we at Eclipse Nexus wish to make it a seamless and comfortable experience for you…”

  The voice carried on, warm but clinical, describing the nano-sedation easing away, the return to consciousness like waking from deep sleep, the possibility of soreness from motor neurons firing during gameplay. Mav’s awareness began to creep back into her real body, the gelbed’s cool cradle, a faint pressure at the back of her skull, light pressing dimly against her eyelids.

  “…If you have any lasting discomfort, headache, or vertigo, please contact Eclipse Nexus Player Help by asking your AVA to connect to ENHelp. We are here 24/7 to assist. Thank you again, player, and see you soon.”

  The voice faded. The blue outline pulsed once, then dissolved, her eyes flickered open.

  “Welcome back,” a warm voice greeted. Mav turned her head slightly toward the sound. Doctor Olivia sat beside the bed, her smile wide and genuine, faint crow’s feet crinkling at the corners of her eyes. She extended a bottle of water.

  The sight alone made Mav realize how parched she was. She took it, her lips parting in gratitude before she even managed a “thanks.” Cool water slid down her throat like a gift.

  “You had quite an adventure,” Olivia said, her tone carrying a note of restrained amusement. She tilted her chin toward the far end of the room. On the couch and chairs, a holo display hovered with the word PAUSED over a still shot of her and Arthur walking. Bobby, Anni, and Jim were tidying the area, stacking dishes, fluffing pillows.

  Catching Mav’s questioning look, Olivia’s brows lifted. “Due to time compression, we see what happened, not what’s happening. We’ll be able to watch it all once the data decompresses.” Mav just nodded, her gaze drifting toward the bustle in the room.

  “Nice hip throw,” Anni called with a grin, miming the move by twisting her hips and dropping a pillow onto the couch.

  “Yeah,” Jim added, his smirk quick and boyish, “good to see the big man get dumped. But shoot, Mav, that was ballsy jumping straight into Umbra like that?”

  “I don’t know…” Bobby drawled, his mild Southern accent softening the words. “Sometimes you gotta forge ahead to get behind what you need.”

  Jim groaned. “Man, I can’t do philosophy right now…” A large hand landed on his shoulder with a friendly shake.

  “Nice to see the big man get dumped, huh?” Arthur’s voice was laced with fake menace.

  Jim swatted the hand away without looking back. “Yup. At least you didn’t burn her alive like you did me.” He moved toward Mav, fishing a small scanner from his pocket. “Mind if I run a quick check? Make sure everything’s working as it should?” She nodded, even as Arthur muttered a defense.

  “Look, man, you walked right into my field of fire. I didn’t mean to make a Jim flambé. You were there, Bobby, tell him. He walked right into the flames.”

  Bobby lifted both hands, palms out. “Now, I don’t want to get into this again, boys. I think it was a tragic case of mistaken identity and… lack of situational awareness.” He chuckled at Jim’s offended face.

  “Seriously?” Jim sputtered. “Mistaken identity? You made me dress like an orc to sneak into their camp!” He looked about the room in mock hurt until his eyes fell on Mav and winked quickly.

  “Exactly,” Arthur said with mock solemnity. “So not only did you run into a wall of arcane fire, but you looked like an orc, so… maybe I did aim a little.” Jim flipped him the middle finger, grinning despite himself. Mav laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, grown men bantering like teenagers.

  Anni crossed the room. “Need to pee, Mav?” The question made Mav blink, then realize her bladder was, in fact, uncomfortably full. She nodded and Anni shot Olivia a look, brows raised. Olivia slid off her stool, brushing invisible lint from her white coat.

  “Okay, boys. Mav needs some private time, then some actual nourishment. Let’s reconvene in…” She glanced into her HUD. “Say, an hour fifteen?”

  Jim trailed the robosteward toward the door. “Soup and grilled cheeses?” Bobby asked over his shoulder.

  “Yes,” Mav and Arthur answered in unison, sharing a quick laugh.

  “It’ll be up in a few minutes,” Bobby promised, stepping out.

  Arthur walked past Mav, miming a finger gun. “Bang,” he said with a wink, then turned it into a thumbs-up before sauntering out. As the door closed, Mav leaned back into her pillow, a small smile tugging at her lips. ‘What a group of crazies… and I’m trusting my health to them. And I couldn’t be anywhere better.’

  “Alright,” Anni said, “let’s get you up and to the potty.”

  “I’ll wait here to debrief you once you’re back, if you’re up for it?” Olivia added, resettling herself onto her stool. Mav eased upward, shoulders rolling stiffly. “Yeah… you weren’t kidding about soreness,” she admitted, flexing her fingers before reaching for the bedside handle and pulling herself into the electric chair.

  “So if this is how the muscles I can feel are,” she asked as she maneuvered toward the bathroom, “what’s happening to my legs?”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “I’ll fill you in when you get back. But in a word… lots,” Olivia replied with a faint, knowing smile.

  Minutes later, Mav rolled back across the room, parking by the window to look out. Sunlight danced on the ripples of Jordan Lake, the water sparkling like a bed of gemstones. Anni glanced toward Olivia, who waved her off and came to sit nearby. The two women sat in a companionable silence for a long moment, the view doing most of the talking.

  Finally, Olivia turned toward Mav, her expression softening. She lifted her hands, tracing a square in the air between them. A frame blinked into Mav’s HUD. Mav’s gaze flicked briefly to Olivia’s hands and caught the faint scars at each index fingertip. ‘Connection implants,’ she guessed.

  The frame resolved into a sketch of a lower body, spine, nerves, muscles.

  “This is a representation of your spine, the injury, and what we’re seeing so far. And it’s… amazingly promising,” Olivia said, genuine excitement coloring her voice. Her fingers tapped in the air, zooming the view. Mav’s chest tightened at the sight of the twisted damage from the accident, a hot burn of anger surging before she forced a slow breath to steady herself.

  “As you can see,” Olivia continued, the damaged area glowing a deep rouge, “the neuralnano surgery wasn’t enough to heal the injury fully. But what’s promising is the nerve conduction we’re seeing above the damaged area.”

  She highlighted a section in pale blue. “We flooded this spot with nanos programmed to amplify signals to the legs. It forces the body to look for alternate pathways.” She looked at Mav. “With me so far?” Mav nodded. “We’re watching a time lapse from your gaming session.”

  On the display, the pale blue deepened to azure, then to royal blue before fading back again, over and over. “The deeper the color, the higher the nanoneural activity,” Olivia explained. She opened a second window, Arthur’s perspective during training. As Mav watched herself climb a support beam and land lightly on a stack of pallets, the animated nerve map shifted colors in sync.

  “Hey, that’s cool!” Mav said, her eyes brightening. “Is that what you guys were watching the whole time?” She asked with a small touch of shyness, a faint flush crept up her cheeks. ‘Oh god… did they see me checking out Arthur? I’ll die if they did.’

  “Well, no, not the whole time,” Olivia reassured, catching the flicker in Mav’s eyes. “We switched to Arthur’s feed once you were together. Before that, it was Goo’s view. Now that he’s active again, we’d like to keep it that way, if you’re okay with it.”

  She gestured toward the glowing display. “See what I mean about promising?”

  “Yeah,” Mav said with a small nod. “It’s… actually nice knowing someone’s watching, since I jumped in there to…” she stalled, lips pressing together. “To do what? Confront Tzulau? Stupid, huh?”

  Her eyes dropped briefly to her lap before lifting again. “Yes, I see what you mean. Is that a better response than with past subjects?”

  Olivia nodded emphatically, the light catching in her dark eyes as she swept a hand through the holographic frame. It shattered into motes of light that faded before reaching the floor. “Not stupid at all,” she said, a faint smile curling one corner of her mouth. “Impulsive, maybe a little short-sighted… but not stupid. In this case, your choice might actually work to your benefit.”

  “How?” Mavis straightened in her chair, head tilting slightly to the side, curiosity knitting her brow.

  “Well…” Olivia’s hands moved in small, deliberate gestures as she spoke. “I’m theorizing here, with the increased realism, being in a world that’s more familiar to you than Antumbra’s fantasy setting… plus the perceived danger… the way your body responds to fight or flight could help your system find alternate neural pathways faster than we predicted.”

  She glanced past Mav, a flicker in her expression as a message flashed across her own HUD. “Again, all conjecture right now, you’re our first subject for this treatment but the theory’s solid.” A brief pause, then a faint smile. “Side note, Bobby’s on his way up with lunch. Shall we gather and talk strategy while we eat?”

  She rose from the couch with an inviting wave toward an area Mav hadn’t explored. Mav wheeled around the low wall and blinked, a full kitchen, warm wood tones, a large dining table set before a wide picture window.

  Olivia caught her reaction and smiled knowingly. “Don’t be so surprised. Tzulau spared no expense for your comfort. They really do want what’s best for you.”

  At the name, Mav’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. She drew a slow breath, pushing down the sudden flash of anger. “I can see it with my eyes, and I recognize it with my mind… but I guess I’ve still got blockages in my heart.”

  She rolled to the fridge, pulled the door open, and froze. Every shelf was stocked with her favorite drinks and snacks. A rueful smile tugged at her lips. ‘Damn… they really did their homework. I need to work on this anger…’

  “You know,” Olivia’s voice softened, breaking into her thoughts, “in yogic traditions, they call that blockage a samskara. An experience buried because it was too hard to face… or clung to so tightly it becomes a lifeline of happiness.”

  Mav’s eyes flicked toward her, thoughtful.

  Olivia smiled. “I take it you’re familiar with the idea?” Mavis nodded, closing the fridge and pivoting her chair toward the table. “Why don’t you talk to Master Dwight about this when he’s back? He had to fly to Boston, but he’ll return in a day or so.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.” Mav’s tone grew more reflective. “My dad talked about it before. It fits with how our best thinking can still land us in trouble, because we’re not seeing the world clearly, just through the lens of pain, frustration, or anger.”

  Her elbows settled onto the oak tabletop, gaze drifting outside. The somber cast to her features lingered until a chime sounded and the door opened. A robosteward rolled in, followed by Bobby, Arthur, and Jim.

  “Chow time!” Arthur boomed, grin wide as he bounded into the room. “Who’s hungry?”

  “Me!” Mav shot back, her earlier solemnity replaced with a bright eyed spark.

  Olivia caught the shift, a small note of satisfaction crossing her face. ‘Just what I thought when we watched… good. They both could use this kind of lift.’

  She took the seat beside Arthur and patted his arm. “Yes, yes, big man, we’ll feed that never ending hole you call a stomach.”

  Arthur’s grin edged into a smirk. “Hey now, it’s not never ending. There’s an exit, you know.”

  Olivia arched a brow and let out a noncommittal “mmhmm,” letting the comment die on its own. Bobby began placing dishes on the table. “Thank you, chef,” Olivia said warmly. “As always, I appreciate your work.” The aroma of soup and toasted bread hit Mav like a wave, and her stomach let out a loud, involuntary growl. The entire table looked her way.

  Jim barked a laugh. “Guess Mav’s stomach appreciates it, too.”

  Olivia chuckled. “Alright, let’s eat and while we’re at it, strategize a plan for Mav so we can get her back into the game. Sound good?” She turned to Mav with a questioning look.

  “Oh, hell yes,” Mav said, her tone sharpening with resolve. “The more time there, the faster I heal, right?” Her brows arched at Olivia.

  “That’s the idea, yes,” Olivia confirmed. She nodded toward Bobby as he set a steaming bowl of soup in front of Mav, then sat with his own meal. Olivia lifted her spoon, eyes scanning the group. “Shall we, then?” A chorus of nods and murmured agreement followed. Spoons dipped into bowls, buttery bread slicked fingers, and soft sounds of appreciation drifted around the table as the conversation shifted into the serious work of surviving Umbra.