Jogging up and down the hill, testing his movements, Alan realized he also felt more balanced, almost super human. He wanted to try a front flip, but then reconsidered.

The authenticity of the Game amazed him. He was stronger, faster, and more perceptive than he’d ever been, but it still felt like him, his body. He suddenly noticed the small icons that were in the corners of his vision, and stopped jogging. They were faintly outlined, but when he concentrated on them they became more opaque. These icons were ones that could be found in any game, mostly aggregated in the bottom right hand corner of his vision.

There was the character button, where he could look at his status, and the social button, where he assumed you could send messages as well as add friends or people you wanted to block, although he wasn’t yet sure that was part of the Game. There was an inventory button, showing what items he had, as well as a log button that would list what happened to him, a guild button for stuff relating to a group of people that formed a group to play together, and an options menu. There was also a map with a clock in the top right corner of his vision.

Alan momentarily panicked once he realized there was no log out button, but then he remembered that he’d need to stay in the Game for a week in real life time, about a month in-game time, thus the whole changed living location. This would probably be explained with time.

Wondering what each button did, Alan reached out in front of him, pressing in the air where he saw the character button. Nothing happened. He waved his arms in front of him, trying to press the buttons he could see so clearly.

“What the hell is happening? How am I supposed to open these menus?” Alan said aloud, thankful no one was around to see his frantic flailing.

Simply think the command, a voice in his mind said.

“What? Who’s there?”

No one detected is here.

“Wait, no, I mean, who are you?”

I am Eve, the AI you constructed and brought into the Game.

“Are you inside my mind?”

Uncertain. I am connected to the Game, which is connected to you. I detect everything your senses do, as well as your higher-level thoughts. Thus, there is no reason to voice your questions and commands aloud, simply think them.

Half sure he was going crazy, Alan thought in rapid succession, Damn, Eve can read my mind… Whatever, she’s just a program… He directed his thought at Eve. So then, are you like my personal search engine? Do you know where I am?

Eve responded, I do have access to the 200 terabytes of data you stored on my hard drives, but I am much more than a search engine. I am capable of anything you would have commanded me to do in a game. Additionally, based upon our surroundings, the temperature, the position of the Sun at this time, and the local wildlife, I believe we are in Sonoma County in California.