On a snowy cold winter day, Alicia was crossing the bridge by subway train. It was her usual route home after a two-hour workout at a downtown gym.
Her body was sore and throbbing, and her heart was still beating rapidly. Steaming sweat still dripped off everywhere from her body, making her thin workout clothes stick to her fair skin.
Clocks in the displays above the doors were pointing at 11:54, and there was no one but Alicia in the car. The sound of the train running through the cold night was the only thing that kept her from feeling completely alone.
The city far away in the distance was shining and sparkling like Christmas trees, twinkling under the clear night sky. Skyscrapers that stretched on as far as the eye could see, back-lit in red and green, filled the city with a fantastical light. She stared outside through the window for a long while as the train ran above a river, its surface covered in a thick sheet of ice.
"This is 125th Street. Transfer to Purple and Brown Line trains at 125th Street. Please be careful when opening doors. Thank you for your patronage."
The robotic voice echoing through the silent train car snapped her out of her daze. Though it was not her stop yet, she turned her face back towards the interior and stretched, staring at the advertisements that suddenly appeared on displays above the doors.
"The reservation for the most sophisticated BCI VR simulator will begin tomorrow: The BrainWiz 404, by H-Neural!"
The commercial featured a large tank that looks like a tub filled with pink liquid, and a beautiful young girl just like her submerged in the liquid, wearing nothing but a transparent oxygen mask. The girl's long blonde hair floated around her like silk, and her eyes were closed.
