"Wait, that sounds familiar..."

"Did you-- Em. Emmy? Emma! Hey, what are you--" Lunging to physically restrain Emalie, you barely manage to stop her from throwing a chair at the mirror.

After a minor - but still quite lengthy - explanation, she seems a little more comfortable with the idea of mirrors showing reflections that... aren't reflections. When asked why you never mentioned those other mirrors, doing the same, you reply, "You never asked?"

"We shouldn't need to ask for you to share stuff like this!" Emalie half-shouts at you. "Come on, it's a talking mirror, that seems pretty important to share!? Frick, spooked me so bad I could, like, feel my heart trying to tear its way out of my chest." She reclines on an office chair, further sinking into the surprisingly comfortable seats.

"It's called a television, ma'am." Rolph's cheery voice sings from a hidden speaker somewhere. "A screen, a Tee Vee, a prompter, or even known coequally as a funny box to some."

Em side-eyes you suspiciously. Is she suspicious of you? God, what did you do wrong now!? Just because you're being contrasted to the single most trust-worthy entity in all of existence, Em suddenly sees you for what you truly are. Shady. Criminal. A mite, miting mighty men multiple... What were you thinking about? Something about this Tee Vee is so darn distracting.

"At Pleasure Tech, we use this 'Town Hall' for presentations," Rolph says - possibly to break the awkward silence of Em staring at you and you, just sitting there, sweating and fiddling with your hands. "It's a multi-mediator-mediotorium room. This entire thing is actually one big screen. Our glass walls are actually thousands upon thousands of tiny nanites replicating whatever visual input--"

"So the wall is a Tee Vee," Em interrupts sharply.

"Well, it's much more sophisticated than-"

"I'm sure it is. But, like, my brain only has space for important information. Keep it simple."

Rolph's impeccably trimmed eyebrows furrow in frustration. "It means, sweet heart, that I can do this!" Rolph shoots a rainbow from his hand. As it's about to hit the edge of the Tee Vee it, instead, flies past the confinement of the funny box and continues onwards on the glass wall. It then lands with a splat.

Em is not impressed, despite Rolph's raised eyebrow and well practised smile. You, on the other hand, are about to clap. Slowly now, has to be before Em sees it and- too late. Em gives you a hard look that says, Don't encourage him. You show Em how you weren't about to clap, just... practising your jazz hands. Woah, look at them go! Shaking! Pizazz!

The shattered image of Rolph is that of a middle-aged, a black haired man, which can only be described as a jet setter, for some reason. He turns to you and says, "I should inform you that I am in no way distracting you from anything important when I ask; What were you about to say, sad-looking ma'am, and do you need medical assistance for your hand seizure?"

Right, you settle forward in your own chair, not quite sure whether to look at the goopey thing in a jar or Rolph's projection on the Tee Vee. You also stop doing jazz hands. Damn, you wish you had stopped doing that before leaning forward.

You settle for both. "Did you know a guy named Jonathan?" you ask the jar and to the projection you say, "Some people were trying to destroy something and you agreed to lecture them on respecting something."

"Yes. That was... A long time ago. I'm really not obfuscating the actual amount of years, it seems like the number is simply lost to me. Not trying to hide anything."

"Right, okay. You said as much. Several times now."

"Fantastic! I'd hate it if I came across as secretive or deceptive." The image of Rolph laughs, as the goopey thing bumps against the jar of the roof again. "Or - just imagine - If I accidentality gave you the impression I was stalling for time! Ha! Hilarious! What a notion!"

Dismissively waving her hand, Emalie returns to the conversation, "We get it. No need to repeat yourself. So, what happened to this something the townspeople here tried to destroy?"

"Ma'am, if you're insinuating that our products aren't one-hundred percent guaranteed to last millennia beyond their warranty- why, I'd be just almost as hurt if you had deemed me not worthy of your trust!"

"But what is that something!?" Emalie almost jumps out of her chair, fist shaking in the air, till she sees your best attempt at puppy eyes. "Aaargh! I can't imagine why someone would preserve this guy! He's impossible!"

Rolph, folding his hands and resting them comfortably in front of him, coolly replies, "You're a very brash young woman. Just a teensy-bit rude."

"Listen, Rolph. We're just trying to understand. It's a lot to take in, you know?" You make a gesture as if serving a point. "And, it would really, really help our search if you told us what that thing was, so we don't do anything stupid. In case we find it."

"You! You are a real sweety, you know that, right? Aww, shucks. Fine." Rolph grins, pretending to be charmed, and continues, "This can't leave this room or corporate will have my head. Trust me, they'll find a way. So, hush, hush, alright?"

You both nod. One more angrily than the other.

"Amazing." Rolph walks off the screen, leaving an endlessly white horizon in his absence.

At first, it starts as a low growl. A black dot, way on the horizon, looms towards you. You begin to make out the vague details. It's a black stool, inching closer and closer.Still off screen, Rolph's voice chips in, "May I introduce, our newest family member, the VCS deluxe!" The low, growling turns into a booming, fantastical sound, exploding all around you. Wowzers, if you had been alive back in the day, you would totally have bought one - No, two, of these!

Now large enough to make out the details, the stool starts slowly turning around itself.

Man, when you think you've seen it all, this delightful thing continues to amaze and surprise you. See-through, superimposed images of the selfsame stool appears on top of the rotating image. You glance at Emalie, who looks bored and unimpressed. Something about Rolph's voice makes it impossible for you to not get exited. As each superimposed image appears and fades away - another taking it's place, showing off its clean lines and smart design - you can't help utter soft ooh and aaah noises.

"Yes, truly, we live in the future. No longer will people feel the cold grip of social inadequacy. Plug right in and VCS will help you navigate these tumultuous times."

The glass walls of the Town Hall turn dark. From the top, going down, all around you, a series of green ones and zeroes arranged in rows and rows, zoom downwards. A 'free-spirited' version of Rolph pops up on the wall left of the screen. Another version - merely wearing a less fancy suit, but wearing sun-glasses, plops in on the right side.

"I have my rights," starts Free-Rolph, "I think everyone deserves the put whatever they want in their body!" He then pulls out a wad of rolled paper, clearly stuffed with something funky, and lights it. He draws huge puffs and exhales the smoke in rings, hitting Cool-Rolph square in the face.

Clearly in pain, Cool-Rolph coughs and puffs. "You're stoned, you idiot. Great, now I'm going to smell like weed all day. Go die in a fire, fuck-tard!"

They both freeze, as regular-Rolph's voice chimes in. His voice full of empathy and emotion, "Why can't we all just get along? Well... You see, now we can. In virtual space, VCS can easily censor your potentially heated opinions, replacing them with something friendly and engaging. Through the lenses of VCS the world will appear exactly as you desire!"

You are Emalie. You're trapped in a weird simulation. Again.

On the bright side, Shiv is here, too. She's cool. A bit of a push-over, but, given time, she'll get there by herself. Her dad is a complete twat and treats both his kids like shit, so it's not like you're not getting it. She's like that for a reason. Which is why it's good she has you to channel a little fury into her. Maybe a bit of her emotional stuff will rub off on you.

You check off your mental list, marking daily friend appreciation and appreciating your own worth as done. You also add a new item: Spend more alone time with Shiv. It'll be good with a bit off distance from Jorrel and Mute. You swear, leaving the teens behind were supposed to mean less testosterone. And if Jorrel and you get into one more argument, you will break it off with him for real. Not really though. The stress of leaving everything he's ever known and the crushing doubt of being an awful leader, a terrible friend, and a worse partner wears heavy on him. He needs you as much as you need him. Lately it's just been too much of the former. Imbalances like that happens. It's okay.

Looking back up, you're disappointed to see this is still happening. Lame-Rolph, the one wearing a beanie and a shirt that says, "Ganja, my man-yah!" Is needlessly antagonizing Lamer-Rolph, who then proceeds to cause needles conflict. Oh no, you think sarcastically, you smell weird. What are you going to do? What will people say! Noooo-uuugghhh... Puke!

You're also bored. Like, really bored.

Then Dumb-Rolph's voice returns, both lame-o's freeze, and he goes, "Why can't we all just get along? Well... You see, blah, blah, blah I'm a triple brain in a jar. In virtual space, Emalie could punch my face. God, please, you magnificent beast, punch me right in my dumb face! Blah, blah, blah, something, something - jerking off Veeseesh - will appear exactly as you desire!"

With a puff, the two lame-o's disappear. They're replaced by two images of you punching Rolph in his dumb face. A nice, satisfying weight carried with each punch. In one you're really giving it all you got. In the other, you're kind-a not into it, but Rolph is encouraging you to punch harder. Thanking him for his kind encouragement, you punch him right in his dumb face with renewed vigour.

Wow, this is great. You lean forward, resting your elbows on your knees and your head on your knuckles, staring in amazement at what's happening.

You look amazing! Delving into dungeons and almost dying on several occasions has turned out to be the greatest work-out routine. Almost as a reaction to this thought, both images turn to you and show off their biceps, before letting lose another knuckle sandwich.

Daaamn! Christ. Ancient man might have been dumb enough to accidentality off themselves, but they sure knew how to sell you something. Oddly enough, this is doing it for you. Hopefully Jorrel will be up for a little sheet wrestling tonight.

Is Shiv seeing this? You look over at her and you get the impression you might not even be seeing the same thing.

Poor girl looks terrified curled up on her chair and tugging hard at her white shirt, using it to cover her mouth. Her other hand she's using to shield her eyes from whatever nightmare is assaulting her, still viewing though a crack between her middle and index finger. Frick, her cheeks look red enough to boil water on. Is she going to faint? Still, she's not looking away. Squirming in her seat, clearly beyond uncomfortable, she endures.

Whatever Rolph is showing her, it must be terrible to make her that anxious.

And then, with a bow, your twins let go of the bloody pulp Rolph has become and puffs out of existence.

You are Shiva. You have always been. Sometimes you're such an idiot that you have to remind yourself of this fact. This is one of those times where you randomly do exactly that, you think to yourself, just in case you were too dumb to comprehend your own thoughts But also to distract yourself from what you just saw.

You also really, really need to pee. You've only ever felt that need, so intensely, when scared witless or post-crying. After the things you just watched Mute do to you, peeing does not seem like a natural desire. Your daydreaming is never going to be the same ever again. For all foreseeable future, this is the single most important event in your life ever.

The way Mute took a hold of your hair and did that... that thing. When you wrapped your legs around him and- woah, that was crazy. And when his tongue went, at the same time as you took your mouth to, like, that was wild. Whole thing. Insane. Can real-life Mute even lift you like that. You might also have been wrong about salad dressing. You've been living a lie this whole time!

"Not just that, there's more!" Rolph voice promises.

Yes, please! Your dopamine addled brain pips drunkenly.

From the stool extends several tendrils. You have no idea about the size of said stool. They might need to be measured in millimetres or centimetres. No way to know. The screen pans slowly across each, showing off their sleek design and impressive glowing lights. You continue to ooh and aah with a little more vigour. For some reason you added very, very light clapping to this routine.

As this is happening, Rolph's soothing voice keeps presenting. "VCS comes with enough plugs for everyone to join in on this incredible experience from just a single device. Explore this new social frontier and share it with everyone you know!"

Rolph walks back on screen, standing next to the stool, it reaches just above his kneecaps. Out of nowhere a crowd of people appears, gathering around Rolph and his stool. Several tendrils extend from the VCS and coil around the people. Reaching the nape of their neck, they all shake for a moment before a great big smile curves on their lips. Rolph says, "Here at Pleasure Tech we believe mankind's future isn't in the hands of the few. We're in this together," He picks up a tendril and hammers it into his own neck.

"Remember, if not now, eventually, everything will be fine-" Rolph extends his arms in an invitation to the crowd as they all look directly at the observer and, in unison, shout "We. Got. This!"

Then the screen go dark.