It’s a Saturday night and Parker is working on his high school chemistry homework when his phone buzzes. Upon checking his phone, he finds a message from his friend Tyler inviting his gaming buddies and him over. Excited to hang out, they all accept and agree to meet at Tyler’s house in an hour. With his new source of motivation, Parker hurries to finish the rest of his work.

Right on-time, Parker and his other two friends, Lucas and Zane, walk up the front steps of Tyler’s house together.

“How was the chem homework?” Lucas asks Parker.

“Hell,” he replies with a chuckle, “What’d you get for problem two?”

“Oh, I haven’t started yet. I’m gonna do it tomorrow.” Lucas says. Before ringing the bell, Parker checks the door. As usual, the front door is unlocked, and the three of them walk inside. Instinctively, they head straight to the basement where Tyler is waiting for them laying on the couch. In front of the couch is a small table filled with numerous drinks and chip bags waiting to be snacked on. Seeing his friends walk down the stairs, Tyler sits up to greet them,

“You guys ready?” Tyler asks.

“You bet,” Lucas says, getting comfy in an armchair.

“What’re we playing?” Parker asks.

“I was feeling some Grand Heist Online since we haven’t played it on a bit,” Tyler suggests.

“Sounds good to me,” Parker says, taking a seat on the couch, “Toss me a controller,” he adds. Zane and Lucas agree too and get set up. The game begins booting up and they wait as multiple loading screens fade in and out for a few minutes.

“Where were you today, Tyler?” Lucas asks.

“Wasn’t in the mood for school today,” Tyler grins. The screen goes dark as the loading finishes and Parker realizes something.

“Wait, I thought Grand Heist didn’t have split-screen,” Parker says, but before anyone can answer, his vision becomes blurry and all four of their bodies become paralyzed. The screen flashes to a bright white that looks as though it is reaching out of the tv. Unable to move or speak, he watches as the light begins pulling all of them helplessly towards the screen. As they get closer, their vision becomes blinded by the bright white light until they can see nothing else.

After a few moments, the light subsides, and Parker finds himself standing on the sidewalk of a bustling metropolis street. Towering buildings made of steel and glass stretch to the sky all around him. Disoriented and confused, Parker stumbles around his new surroundings. After a moment, Parker begins to recognize some of the buildings and businesses.

“There’s no way,” Parker thinks out loud to himself, “This is the city from Grand Heist. But how is this possible?” Parker pinches his arm, but nothing happens besides feeling pain in his arm. Still in disbelief, Parker slaps himself across the face and again just pointlessly hurts himself. Anxiously, he looks up and down the busy street for his friends.

“Guys?” Parker calls out. “Zane! Tyler! Lucas!” he shouts. A few passing pedestrians look at him annoyed by his yelling. Hearing no reply, Parker starts wandering down the sidewalk examining everyone in search of familiar faces. Finally, after wandering for a few minutes he hears his name,

“Parker!” a familiar voice calls in the distance. Parker looks down the street in the direction he heard the voice emanate.

“Zane!” Parker shouts, before running down the crowded sidewalk. He bumps into a man as he passes. Peeved, the man shouts at him,

“Hey, watch it, punk!”

“Sorry!” Parker yells back. When he reaches the street corner, Parker sees Zane standing next to a street post looking around for him. “Zane!” Parker calls. Zane turns around and his face is filled with relief. “Where’s Tyler and Lucas?” Parker asks.

“I don’t know I haven’t seen or heard them,” Zane says.

“What is going on?” Parker asks nervously.

“It seems like we’re inside the game right now,” Zane suggests. Parker sighs looking around the intersection as many of the same cars drive through the streets.

“How are we supposed to find them in here?” Parker asks.

“I guess we’ll just have to wander around till we do,” Zane says. As the two of them are about to start walking, they hear a bell-like ding before a text box appears in the corner of Parkers field of view.

“Are you seeing this too?” Parker asks.

“Find your partners at the meeting point?” Zane reads out loud.

“Yea, that’s what I’m seeing too,” says Parker, “But how do we know where-” he looks down at his feet and sees a small green arrow pointing deeper into the city. “Oh. Well, I guess that answers my question,” he says. Still inspecting the arrow at his feet, Zane chimes in,

“Let’s get moving then,” and begins walking out into the street. Parker grabs Zane’s shirt and quickly yanks him out of the street just as a bus roars by.

“Dude, did no one tell you to look before crossing a street?” Parker snaps at Zane.

“Relax, it’s a game. I’d just respawn,” Zane says in a laidback manner.

“And what if you didn’t?” Parker says sternly, “How do we know we won’t just die?”

“Fine,” Zane says reluctantly, “Way to ruin the fun.”

They wait for the walk sign to appear on the opposite street pole and cautiously cross the street. Once across, the two of them follow the arrow at their feet through the streets until they reach a large park that spans multiple blocks in either direction. The arrow guides them down a few winding paths past art sculptures and small playgrounds. The deeper into the park they walk, the denser the trees around the path become. Eventually, they enter a small quiet area of the park secluded by surrounding trees that has a small babbling fountain at the center. Upon entering, they immediately spot Tyler and Lucas sitting on the edge of the fountain reminiscing.

“Man am I glad to see two shitheads again,” Zane calls to them, relieved that his friends are ok. Parker and Zane walk over to join their friends.

“Do you two have any idea what the hell is going on?” Tyler asks.

“I was hoping you’d know something since this is your game,” Parker says.

“All I know is the game is giving us a mission to complete,” Tyler explains.

“Well, what are we supposed to now?” Lucas says, “We’re all here,”

“Usually this is when the planning stage starts,” Tyler says as the four of them sit on the edge of the fountain to think. However, once all four of them sit down, they hear another ding. Looking up, they notice the mission info had changed and now reads, Plan and prepare for the heist.

“Oh shit, we’re stuck in a heist mission,” Parker says nervously.

“Relax, Parker, if anything happens we just respawn,” Tyler says.

“How do we know for sure though?” Parker says.

“We don’t. But we can’t be afraid of every what if,” says Tyler.

While they talk, a man in a hoodie discretely enters the fountain circle along the same pathway Parker and Zane came from. Shortly after, Zane notices him and alerts his friends of the man’s presence. The four of them stop talking and watch the man as he slowly walks towards them with his head down.

“Hi, how’re you?” Lucas asks the man. He looks up at Lucas but doesn’t say anything.

“Yo, are you good bro?” Zane asks, slightly put off by the stranger’s demeanor. Suddenly, the man pulls out a knife and charges Lucas. Startled, Lucas jumps up and starts backing away. Tyler and Zane try to intervene, but the man lowers his shoulder and knocks them down as he rushes by. Lunging forward, he plunges the blade into Lucas’s chest causing him to collapse to the ground.

“Lucas!” Parker shouts, getting back up to his feet. The man grabs a wallet out of Lucas’s pocket and sprints away before the others can grab him. By the time Parker reaches Lucas, his body flickers twice and then fades away.

“What was that?” Parker shouts.

“What was that?” Zane mocks, “Why did you just sit there and do nothing?” Zane yells at Parker accusingly.

“Where’d he go?” Tyler asks, “Is he dead?”

“Why did a mugger come after him?” Parker asks. They gather around where Lucas’s body was and become fearful for their own mortality. Just moments later, they hear Lucas’s voice behind them exclaim,

“Oh sick, we do respawn!” The three of them spin around to see their friend standing behind them. Their fear melts away into joy and relief,

“You’re alive!” Tyler shouts.

“Dude, did it hurt getting stabbed?” Parker asks.

“For a second, yea,” Lucas explains, “Then the next thing I know I’m just standing here as if nothing happened.”

“Well at least we know we won’t die,” Parker says.

“Wait that means we can literally do anything without consequences!” says Zane excitedly.

“Slow down there psycho.” Lucas quips, “Keep in mind how realistic this all feels. It still hurt as much as actually getting stabbed,” Lucas explains, “So maybe still try to avoid getting killed.”

“Fine, but I’m still going to have some fun with this,” Zane says.

“No war crimes, Zane,” Tyler says half-jokingly.

“So what now?” Parker asks.

“Which way did the mugger go?” Lucas asks vengefully.

“I’m sure he hasn’t gotten too far yet,” Tyler says.

“I saw him run that way,” Parker points to the path opposite of them. Together, they leave the fountain area to hunt down the hooded man.

After unsuccessfully searching the park for a few minutes, they finally spot Lucas’s assailant on the other side of a picnic area sitting on a bench. While he rummages through the wallet counting the money, the four friends sprint across the greenway towards him.

“Hey, asshole, give me back the wallet!” Lucas yells. Startled, the man looks up to see four guys bearing down on him. Quickly tucking the wallet in his pocket, he gets up and starts running away.

“Why would you let him know we’re coming?” Zane shouts. They chase him through the park as he runs off the trail through bushes and trees to try to lose his pursuers. Noticing that the guys are catching up, he frantically darts into the road without looking and is instantly nailed by a red pickup truck. The truck squeals to a stop while the driver shouts obscenities at the mugger. Shortly after, he returns to driving as if nothing happened. The pedestrians that witnessed it continue on their pre-programmed paths unfazed by the collision. When the four finally reach the side of the road where the mugger was hit, the only thing left is Lucas’s wallet floating a few inches off the ground.

“Why is no one doing anything?” Parker asks, “A guy just got run over.”

“It’s a video game, they’re just NPCs,” says Tyler.

“Still kinda weird though,” Lucas says. Once there’s a break in traffic, Lucas quickly steps out into the road, grabs his wallet, and hops back on the sidewalk.

“How much money do you even have in there?” Parker asks. Lucas opens the wallet and tells them,

“I’ve got three thousand dollars in here!” Lucas exclaims. Reaching into his own pocket, Parker pulls out a wallet of his own and opens it. As he does, a green $3,000 appears hovering above it.

“Woah, we’re loaded!” Parker shouts, “How much do you guys have?” Zane and Tyler each open their wallets and find that they also have the same amount of money.

“So what I’m hearing is it’s time for us to go shopping,” Zane says with a smirk.

Together, the four friends venture back into the city streets in search of equipment for their mission. After wandering for a short time, they find a weapons store. Inside, four of them each buy a rifle, a sidearm, ammunition, and a wireless radio. As they are about to exit, Parker stops.

“Wait, guys. We can’t just go waltzing through the streets with guns out like this,” Parker warns.

“Sure we can,” Zane rebuts.

“Not if we want to make it down the road alive,” Parker reasons.

“Shouldn’t we have those absurdly deep pockets to store stuff like some games have?” Lucas asks.

“Ohh yeah!” Tyler exclaims, “We’ve gotta have some kind of storage system.” They all start trying to shove their different guns into their pockets, but to no avail. Parker thinks for a moment and then swings his gun down by his hip mimicking games he’s played. To their surprise, as Parker does this the rifle vanishes from his hand.

“Ah-ha!” Parker shouts with excitement. The others try to replicate what he did but fail to figure it out.

“Dude, how’d you get it to work?” Zane asks. Parker picks up a small sidearm and explains,

“What I did was as I did the motion, I imagined it being stored in a bag.” He repeats the motion and pictures the gun being placed in a bag, “And it just kinda... yea.” The sidearm blinks out of sight, leaving his hand empty. Zane, Tyler, and Lucas follow his instructions and after a few tries, they successfully store their gear too.

“So what’s next?” Lucas asks.

“I think we need some masks for this,” Zane says. One at a time they exit the gun store and begin walking down the street.

“Does anyone remember where the costume shop is?” Tyler asks. They stop in the middle of the sidewalk and look at Tyler.

“You play this game more than all of us. If anyone is going to know where it is, it’s you,” Zane retorts.

“Hmm,” Tyler thinks, “Actually, now that I think of it, I might remember where one was.” Tyler leads the way down the street while the other three follow close behind.

After walking for a little while, they finally find a costume store with masks for sale. Inside, the four of them split up in search of disguises for themselves. To his surprise, Parker finds that the store has a very broad selection of masks. Eventually, Parker decides on a Spiderman mask and heads to the front counter. When he gets there, he finds Zane waiting in line and asks him what mask he got. Happily, Zane holds a mask of the video game character Woods to his face. Parker holds his mask up to his face and the two of them chuckle at the other’s selection.

“It would be funnier if your name was Peter,” Zane teases.

“Eh, close enough,” Parker shrugs. Just then, Tyler emerges from the aisles of masks and walks over to them.

“Where’s your mask?” Parker asks.

“I decided not to get one,” Tyler replies. Zane and Parker look at him confused.

“But then they’ll see your face,” Zane says.

“Yea that’s the point,” Tyler grins, “I want them to see my charming looks as I rob them,” he says sarcastically.

“Ha! We all know the ladies love me more,” Zane quips.

“The girls in your dreams don’t count,” Tyler jeers. Zane opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted by the store clerk,

“Next,” an old man calls. Zane glares at Tyler before turning around and putting his mask on the counter. While Zane checks out, Lucas creeps out of the aisles wearing a Jason mask and sneaks up behind Tyler. Quietly, he stands behind him lurking over his shoulder. Parker notices Lucas and watches as he lets out a deep breathy grunt causing Tyler to quickly turn around. Upon seeing the iconic hockey mask inches from his face, Tyler jumps away from Lucas,

“Jesus!” he shouts. Parker and Lucas burst out laughing at Tyler.

“What the hell man,” Tyler says trying to stay angry, but quickly cracks a smile and laughs along with them.

“Next,” the man at the counter calls. Parker walks up to the counter and hands the man his mask before fishing some cash out of his wallet.

“Been a lot of you kids buying masks today. Is it October already?” The man asks, handing Parker back his change and Spiderman mask. Unsure by the question, Parker just shrugs,

“I don’t know, maybe,” he says, before awkwardly walking away.

Once they are all checked out, the four put away their masks and leave the store. As they step outside they hear a familiar ding signaling the mission instructions to change again.

“Steal the gold from the city bank vault,” Parker reads out loud. He looks down and notices another arrow at his feet that he assumes is directing him to the bank. Lucas looks at his own feet and points across the street.

“Looks like our next move is this way,” Lucas says.

“Well, let’s get going then,” Zane says eagerly before they set off towards the bank.

Standing at the base of a large staircase leading to the front of the city bank, Parker and his friends brainstorm ideas for their impending heist.

“What I’m thinking is we split into two groups,” Tyler proposes. He points at Parker and Zane, “You two will watch over the lobby from the walkway on the second floor while Lucas and I ask to speak to the bank manager.” He pauses to let the others voice any opinions before continuing, “Once we have the manager, I’ll make them take us to the vault and unlock the door. From there we’ll start collecting as much gold as we can carry, and then get our asses out as fast as possible.” Tyler looks at all three of them for a moment waiting for any disagreements. “Sound good?” Tyler asks.

“Works for me,” Zane says. Parker and Lucas nod in agreement.

“Alright then, let’s roll,” Tyler says enthusiastically. After putting their masks on, they start walking up the limestone stairs. As he walks up, Parker admires the greek-style architecture of the bank. He notices that each window and doorway is nestled in its own chiseled stone arch. Before reaching the front door, they walk past a line of tall marble columns supporting a large portico that reaches out over the entryway. Once inside the bank, they step into the lobby and look down the tall corridor supported by a row of darker, more decorative columns running down the center. On either side of the lobby are numerous windows with bank tellers tending to customers. A few moments after entering, they hear another ding as a notification appears reading: Respawn disabled.

“Hell no, I’m out,” Lucas says after seeing the message.

“Dude come on, we have to do this,” Tyler pleads.

“I am not about to die in a video game. We’ll find another way,” Lucas argues. He turns around to head for the door but Tyler steps in his way.

“This is what the game is making us do. We can’t get out until the mission is over,” Tyler tries to explain, but Lucas pushes past him.

“I don’t buy it. I’m getting out of here,” Lucas says as he approaches the door, but just as his hand is inches from the handle, his body thumps against an invisible barrier.

“What?” Lucas says as fear of being traped creeps into his voice, “No, no, no. Please.” He pounds on the wall helplessly.

“Lucas, come on,” Parker says, putting a hand on Lucas’s shoulder, “We’ve gotta get going.” As he consoles Lucas, a woman walks past them, through the barrier, and exits the bank.

“Oh, come on!” Lucas shouts in frustration. He pauses for a moment, sighs, and turns to face the group. “How are none of you worried about this?” Lucas asks.

“We’re just as scared as you are, Lucas, but since we have no other choice but to do this; the faster we get it done, the faster we get home,” Parker reasons. Lucas takes a minute to collect himself. “Alright let’s do this,” he says, feigning confidence as he joins his friends.

The four of them split into their predetermined groups and move to their planned positions. Parker and Zane walk halfway down the lobby before ducking into a side hallway while Tyler and Lucas wait in line to speak to a teller. As Parker walks down the hall, he sees an informational sign on the wall indicating stairs ahead to the left as well as an emergency exit to the right. Taking note of where the exit is, the two of them follow the signs to the stairs and make their way onto a walkway that connects over both sides of the lobby. Once in position, Zane and Parker get comfortable while they wait.

Overlooking the bank lobby, Zane and Parker watch as the NPC citizens carry out scripted tasks to create the illusion of a functioning bank. Parker watches closely as a man approaches one of the teller windows, but notices that the man and the teller don’t actually exchange anything before he walks away.

“Huh, I guess NPCs wouldn’t really have a need for money,” Parker says with a shrug. He pulls out his radio and talks to Tyler,

“Hey, everything still looks normal from up here, how are things going down there with you?” Parker asks. He waits a moment for Tyler to answer,

“We requested to speak to the manager so now we’re just waiting for them to come and meet us. Then we’ll make them take us to the vault,” Tyler explains, “We are currently down in the back of the lobby that way we don’t cause a scene when we give the manager some motivation.”

“Sounds good, we’ll keep an eye on the entrance,” Parker replies. He leans against the railing and thinks for a moment before turning to talk to Zane,

“Have you noticed anything strange about all this? Parker asks.

“No, why?” Zane inquires.

“Remember how Lucas got mugged earlier?” Parker asks.

“Yea, what about it?” Zane asks.

“Well, from the past times I’ve played the game, I thought that an actual player had to hire muggers,” Parker ponders. Zane turns to look at Parker,

“What are you suggesting?” he asks.

“At first I remembered that it was an online game, so maybe another player sent it,” Parker continues, “But I dismissed it because I felt that we should have seen or at least heard other players causing trouble around the city.”

“Right, so we must be alone in here then,” Zane concludes.

“That’s what I decided to go with too until we were at the mask shop earlier,” Parker says, “The man at the counter told me that there were a lot of us getting masks today, and NPCs don’t have the money nor a need for a mask.” Zane’s eyes widen as he realizes what Parker is right.

“We need to warn Tyler an-” Zane is interrupted by a deep explosion below the bank causing the room to shake. The bank alarm begins ringing as civilians scream and running for the exit. Parker picks up his radio again and tries to get a hold of Tyler,

“Tyler, please tell me that was you blowing the vault door open,” he says nervously. the radio crackles with static for a moment while he waits for a response.

“IT ABSOLUTELY WAS NOT!” Tyler yells through the radio, “WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES TRYING TO ROB THE BANK. WE GOTTA GO!” Parker and Zane lock eyes for a moment before sprinting off the bridge. The security alarm continues to echo all around them as the two hurry down the stairs and back into the lobby. As they enter the lobby, Parker spots Tyler and Lucas running from the back of the lobby towards him.

“Go! Don’t wait up!” Tyler shouts to them. Just then, Parker hears the sickening ding of the mission instructions updating. Reluctantly, he looks up and sees one word. Survive. Parker and Zane start to run towards the entrance with Lucas and Tyler close behind. However, the second they start running, the front doors fly open as a stream of police officers storm into the lobby. Immediately, they spot the four of them in the otherwise empty lobby and start shouting orders,

“You four, freeze!” one officer yells, drawing their pistol.

“Hands up, now!” another shouts. Parker trips as he tries to stop and quickly change directions to run away.

“Oh shit, they got here fast!” Parker says to himself as he gets up and runs the other way with Zane. Parker and Zane run back into the hallway with Tyler and Lucas following close behind.

“We have four suspects in masks heading for the east exit,” an officer says into their radio before chasing after Parker and his friends down the lobby corridor.

As parker runs down the hall, he remembers the sign from earlier and turns down the hall on the right. Halfway down the hallway, Parker spots a red exit sign hanging from the ceiling,

“There, follow the sign!” Parker shouts to the others. On the sign, a small arrow points to the left down another shorter hallway. At the end of the hall, they find the grey emergency exit door. Bursting through the door, the four friends spill outside into an alleyway running along the side of the bank.

“We should find a car, we gotta get away from here quickly,” Lucas suggests.

“Good idea,” Parker says. He points to the far side of the alley, “That way should lead to the back of the bank.” The four of them run out of the alley and find themselves on a street running along the rear of the bank. Quickly scanning the road, Tyler spots a parked car a little ways away on the other side of the road,

“Grey sedan, let’s go!” Tyler shouts. As they run across the street, the only sound they can hear over the bank alarm is are the distant whines of police sirens.

“Who’s driving?” Parker asks before reaching the car.

“I don’t have a license,” Tyler says.

“It’s a video game, Dude!” Zane shouts.

“Screw it, I’ll drive!” Parker yells, running to the driver’s side door. He grabs the handle, but it doesn’t open. “Damnit, it’s locked!” Parker says shouts.

“Just break the window!” Zane suggests.

“Oh sure, just break the window,” Parker says mockingly, “It’s not that easy!”

“All you have to do is hit your elbow on the window,” Zane explains condescendingly. Reluctantly, Parker rams his elbow into the window but instead hurts himself from the impact.

“Ack! My funny bone,” Parker winces, grabbing his now tingling arm.

“Oh for crying out loud,” Zane mutters to himself before bracing his arm and almost effortlessly smashing the passenger window with his own elbow. With a smug look on his face, Zane reaches through the shattered window, unlocks, and opens his door. Once inside, Zane crosses his arms and sits quietly while the others wait for their door to be unlocked.

“Alright, you made your point,” Parker says frustratedly, “Now can you unlock the rest of the car so we can get out of here?” Parker tugs at the locked door handle while nervously looking up and down the street.

“Aw, is someone a wittle salty they couldn’t smash the window?” Zane taunts.

“Zane!” Parker shouts, tugging on the handle rapidly.

“For crying out loud,” Tyler utters to himself. He reaches through Zane’s window, unlocks his own door, gets inside, and unlocks the rest of the car.

“You’re no fun,” Zane teases. Parker sits down and punches Zane in the arm.

“Not the time, Zane,” Parker says frustratedly.

“Fine, start the car then,” Zane says smugly. Parker searches for the keys, but can’t find them.

“Well?” Zane smirks. Fed up with Zane, Parker reaches under the wheel, pulls the panel off, and starts hotwiring the car. After quickly twisting the ends of the power wires together, he touches the ignition wire to the power wires causing the engine to roar to life.

“Oh, so he knows how to hotwire a car, but can’t smash a window,” Zane says. The sound of police sirens grows closer to them. However, Parker calmly takes his time adjusting each of his mirrors.

“You going to drive or keep futzing with the mirrors?” Zane asks.

“I dunno,” Parker says smugly, “I feel like you don’t appreciate me getting this car started.” The sirens behind them continue to get louder.

“Oh, look at you trying to be all cool,” Zane scoffs. Tyler leans forward and firmly grabs both of their shoulders,

“If you two don’t shut it, I will personally introduce you to the Game Over screen,” Tyler snaps. Just then, the sound of screeching tires echoes through the street as three police cars come flying around the corner behind them.

“Drive!” Tyler shouts. Parker slams the gas pedal to the floor and the car takes off down the road.

“Why don’t we just peacefully turn ourselves in?” Lucas suggests.

“These are video game cops, Lucas, they’ll shoot you just for littering,” Tyler explains. A moment later, a bullet flies through the rear window as an officer fires from the car behind them.

“Pull over, now!” the police command through their car’s PA speaker. At the end of the block, Parker makes a quick right turn onto a busier street. As he takes the turn, the car skids into oncoming traffic.

“Watch out!” Zane shouts, grabbing the handle over his door. A white van honks at them as it swerves off the road. Parker jerks the wheel to avoid the van causing the car to fishtail as he tries to regain control. Through the rear window, Zane watches the three police cars slide around the corner and continue to pursue them. Gaining speed with each block, Parker approaches a box truck from behind. In an attempt to pass it, Parker swings into the opposite lane. However, just as he peeks around the side of the truck, Parker has to immediately steer back to avoid an oncoming car. Now forced to hit his breaks, Parker slows for only a moment before making a sharp right onto a street going downhill. Unfortunately, at the end of the block, a line of police cars stands in the way of their escape.

“Damn, where do we go now?” Parker shouts as their car barrels down the street.

“The parking garage to the left!” Tyler shouts.

“Won’t that be a dead end?” Lucas asks.

“No, there’s a floor below with an exit to the street left of the blockade,” Tyler explains. Before running into the barricade, Parker hooks a left into the parking garage as Tyler instructed. Immediately after entering, Parker is forced to reduce speed to avoid hitting any parked cars. Following the arrows, the car skillfully navigates through the narrow aisle. Not far behind, the three police sirens can be heard echoing inside the garage.

“The ramp down should be just around this corner,” says Tyler, nervously providing directions from the backseat. Sure enough, as they turn the corner, they see the ramp to the lower deck. However, at the same time, one of the police cars comes around the corner at the opposite end of the aisle. At the sight of the police lights, parker lays on the gas down the ramp and rockets out of the garage. Just as Tyler predicted, the lower exit spits them out next to the wall of cop cars. After making a screeching left turn onto the street, three more police cars from the blockade see the suspects’ car and join the pursuit.

“Keep heading east, Parker,” Lucas says, “I have a place out there we can lay low in.”

“How do you have a house already?” Zane asks.

“After we got sucked in here, I spawned in some rundown house which I assumed to be mine,” Lucas explains.

“Good enough for me, just get us there,” Parker says. Behind them, a police car exiting the parking garage quickly pulls out into the street and cuts off an officer joining from the blockade. They both try to swerve away, but neither are able to avoid the other and the two cars collide with a loud crunch of metal and glass. The remaining four cop cars successfully swerve to avoid the wreck and continue chasing the grey sedan.

“Just lose the police first,” Lucas says nervously.

“Y’all have guns, use them,” Parker says as he narrowly avoids a pedestrian crossing the street.

“I don’t really feel comfortable killing people,” Lucas says.

“They’re not real, it’s a video game, remember,” Zane says, pulling a rifle out of his inventory.

“Just shoot their tires,” Tyler suggests to Lucas. Reluctantly, Lucas pulls his own weapon and returns fire at the police. While his friends try to shake the police, Parker tries to safely weave through traffic. A barrage of bullets zip past their car and a few embed themselves in the trunk.

“Careful, respawns are still disabled!” Zane shouts, ducking into the car while he reloads. While firing at the police cars, Tyler bursts the front tire of the leading car causing it to skid across the road and hit a parked car.

“Woo! One down,” Zane shouts, leaning back out the window. As they pass through another intersection, Lucas notices the street signs and yells up to Parker,

“We need to take a left in three blocks, but we need to lose the cops before then!” Parker thinks for a second before turning right onto a short street and then left at the intersection. Losing sight of the police, Parker searches for a place to hide.

“Everyone get back inside now!” Parker shouts as he hits the breaks and quickly turns into a dark alleyway. He separates the power wires under the wheel and the car shuts off. They duck down behind their seats and anxiously listen as the police sirens get louder and louder. Shortly after hiding, the three cars whiz by and the sirens start becoming distant.

“I cannot believe that worked,” Zane says in disbelief.

“It’s an old game, the AI aren’t that observant,” Parker says with a chuckle.

“If I remember correctly, we should only be a few blocks from the house,” Lucas says.

“Now what?” Zane asks. Parker turns around in his seat to face his friends,

“We walk the rest of the way,” Parker says.

“What if we’re seen?” Lucas asks.

“Luckily the police didn’t see our faces since we had masks,” Parker says sarcastically and looks at Tyler, “You’ll just have to put your hood up and keep your head down.” They wait a minute till the sirens fade away before taking their masks off and exiting the car.

“Lead the way, Lucas,” Tyler says, motioning for Lucas to lead them out of the alley. The four of them causally walk out onto the sidewalk and follow Lucas to their hideout.

Unnoticed, the four of them manage to walk through the outskirts of the city and avoid the authorities. By the time they reach their destination, the sun begins to set and the city lights light up the darkening sky. Lucas leads them up the rickety front steps of a single-story house in a rundown neighborhood. Once inside, they rush to lock the doors and close the blinds before finally getting to sit down and relax. For a few minutes, the four of them sit in silence and mull over everything they just endured.

“How are we supposed to get out of this game now?” Tyler asks with a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

“Maybe we could figure out who robbed the bank and turn them in to clear our names,” Lucas suggests.

“Except the cops in this game are trigger happy, just imagine a bunch of actual players with a whole arsenal in their pocket,” Zane says in defeat.

“Plus the objective still says Survive, I doubt we’d respawn if we got killed,” Parker says, frustrated by the inescapable situation they’re in. A few minutes pass and they hear the sound of footsteps on the dirt outside the back window. The four of them look at each other anxiously.

“I’ll check it out,” Lucas whispers, tiptoeing his way over to the window. Everyone eagerly watches him as Lucas reaches out to look under the blinds. As he is about to lift the plastic slat, the window shatters into a rain of glass. A pair of black boots swing through the falling shards and kick Lucas in the chest.

“Lucas!” Tyler shouts, ducking behind a couch. Not even a second later, a side window and the front door burst open as a body-armored SWAT team floods into the room.

“RUN!” Zane shouts as gunfire erupts around the room. Time seems to slow down as Parker watches in terror as Zane, Lucas, and Tyler are cut down by the SWAT officers. Turning to run, Parker sees a flash of light out of the corner of his eye before feeling an excruciating pain surge through his head.

Parker’s eyes snap open as he inhales sharply. Sitting up, sweat gathered on his forehead trickles down his throbbing temple. Parker looks around his dark bedroom and slowly reestablishes reality. Gently Massaging the side of his head, he thinks about his dream and the vividness of it. Parker lays back down and tries to calm himself.

Didn’t think it was possible to die in your own dreams. Parker thinks to himself. He checks his clock and sees it’s only four in the morning. Deciding that it’s too early to get up, Parker closes his eyes and falls back to sleep.

Every morning I wake and wonder,

Am I awake or still dreaming.

If I close my eyes, my mind will wander,

and go back to imagining

all that could have been

and all that may happen.

Life is better in my head

Warm, cozy, and safe, in my bed.

Why should I get up today

just to do again what I do every day.

Life looked exciting when we were young,

But life for us had not yet begun.

We were told to chase our dreams,

But now they only exist in our dreams.

Not many come back from the front lines of war, but those that do are never the same. Those unlucky enough to find themselves facing down the enemy across the battlefield must do what their king commands. Us footsoldiers are just expendable pawns sent first into the fray to die for our king and queen. Every second that passes I wish that I had been strong enough to be a knight. At least then I would have some worth, and my king would think twice about losing me. Yet, here I stand. Sword in hand. Awaiting my turn to advance where I may almost certainly have to sacrifice myself. I must do as I am commanded, for if I turn and run, I will be cut down as a coward. No bishop would dare absolve me of such a sin. This is the life of a pawn in this never-ending war. Some may call it strategy, but I call it chess.