The final bell rang throughout the school. Students happily packed up their bags and raced toward freedom, leaving their unprepared teachers, who didn’t have time to give out homework, slack-jawed.

“Yo, Andi!”

I was walking home when I heard Jasper, my best friend, call me. He huffed his way to where I was, annoyed that I started without him again.

“Hey, Jas. Training for the next marathon?”

Japer never liked Physical Education, he always preferred a computer class to one that would get him sweaty and uncomfortable. I made sure to remind him of that once in a while.

Damn, I loved teasing him.

“Har. Har. I swear one of these days I’ll be the first one out and you’ll be the one chasing after me. Too bad for you I’ll make sure that you’ll never catch me, mwahahahaha!”

“I’d love to see you try.”

I playfully shoved his shoulder as we laughed and made our way home. We lived in the same neighborhood and had known each other since we were five. Even though high school is coming to a close for us soon, he’s still the only friend I’ve made. Some days I feel sad that I didn’t branch out and make more, but on days like these, where it’s just us walking home without a care in a world, laughing in the sun, I feel okay that it’s just us.

As long as he’s with me.

“Hey, Earth to Andrew. You there, good buddy?”

“Huh?”

I guess I spaced out.

“I said, what do you think about the new update to Gaea?”

“That again? Why would I pay attention to every little update they’ve had if I can’t afford it? Besides, you’re the Gaea nut, not me.”

Gaea. A virtual world where people could do anything they wanted. It started as a way to unify different work offices and businesses across the globe. It was far easier to have a virtual job a few hours each day than commuting to a physical place to put in your nine to five, and it supposedly would be cheaper for businesses if they switched to virtual, or so the benefactors thought.

When they realized the limitless potential that they had created, a world where anyone can interact and do anything, they quickly updated and monetized the system. Worlds were created on Gaea to suit everyone’s needs. Fantasy, science fiction, filmmaking, music, games, taxes, it was all available to everyone. Unfortunately, the multi-use and quick understanding that this was where lives were going to be made, made the product really expensive, as well as having a monthly charge.

The rich were the first to prioritize it. Stocks skyrocketed and suddenly IT and game developers all over the world were working overtime to accommodate the massive input such a project would need to run smoothly and not ruin anyone’s life.

A year after the rich prioritized Gaea, and made it so that businesses could only succeed through using it, the price for the augmented headset that transports you to the virtual realm dropped in price and more people were able to log in.

However, that was still too expensive for me to even think about getting it. I lived with my mom in a small apartment and we barely have enough for rent each month. I have a part-time job to help her out, but even if I saved a little each month to buy myself a Gaea set it would still take me years.

I found that the easiest way to handle this was by not making myself excited for such an expensive device. Which meant, ignoring everything about it. Though it wasn’t that hard. When Gaea first started, the games they implemented were simple and limited. It appeased the hardcore fanboys that were dreaming of virtual entertainment all their lives, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy everyone, and soon players were dropping like flies, and accounts were being deleted because the gamers couldn’t find something better than what they already had in the real world.

The creators of Gaea saw this as a problem. If they wanted a monopoly over the virtual world, the next step in humanity’s evolution, they needed to appease as many groups as possible, and the gamers were the most loyal and dedicated of them all. And so, the developers spent an entire year planning the evolution of their main fantasy game, Ithaca, and re-launched it to critical acclaim. Still, even that didn’t appeal to me.

But Jasper loved it.

He wouldn’t stop talking about how impressive the game designers were or how talented the people behind the keyboards were for making such an immersive game.

I had to sigh every time he brought it up.

It was exhausting just listening to him, but I never complained. I loved seeing him happy. He was so animated.

“Even if you can’t afford it you should still pay attention, Andi. Gaea will be our future. In the next couple of years, it’ll most likely be affordable for most of the world and then we’ll be conducting our job interviews through them. At some point in our lives, Gaea will be crucial in how we survive.”

I sighed.

“I suppose.”

“Besides,” he continued, “these updates are cool. They improved the music side of Gaea and transformed it into their own world, Bardilla. I hear that a lot of virtual musicians are eyeing that as a way to rise in the industry. And then there’s the avatar update which allows you to pick your gender, customize your outfit, and change your hair.”

“Pick your gender?”

That bit of news did surprise me. Gaea was infamous for its difficult avatar customization. Since it was originally for businesses, the creators wanted a full scan of yourself in the virtual world in professional attire. Though with Ithaca, an update was initiated that allowed you to customize your wardrobe, weapons, and other equipment, allowing players a more casual attire, but your base avatar was still yourself. You still couldn’t change your hair color or the shape of your nose, let alone your gender.

“Yeah. Unfortunately, those of us who already have their avatars made can’t switch and customize unless we have enough money to buy a customization cube, but new players can now change their gender when creating an account. I don’t know all the details yet, but it seems like Gaea does a full scan of you and then uses an algorithm to determine what you would have looked like if you hit puberty as the opposite gender.”

“That’s wild,” I said. My shock wasn’t due to the accomplishment of avatar customization, though it was impressive, but to the chill that ran down my spine that a piece of technology that everyone will someday own will have information about our bodies that we wouldn’t even have known about.

“Right?! And then there’s this other update that –”

And so, Jasper talked all the way home with me barely keeping up with what he was saying. Eventually, we got to the intersection right before our houses.

“This is me,” I said. “See you tomorrow.”

I turned down my street, but Jasper stopped me.

“Hey, I know that Gaea is expensive, but if you’re ever interested, I heard there’s an arcade downtown that has it. Apparently, anyone can play and use it for a small fee. I think it’s worth at least checking out, you know. Even if you don’t play it, you’ll have some basic understanding that could look good on a resume.”

“Thanks.”

I smile at him before leaving and entering my apartment.

Mom was still out when I got home. She wouldn’t be back from work for another few hours.

As I started the shower after throwing my stuff in my room, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Normally I wouldn’t, but for some reason, today, I really looked at myself. I wasn’t sure why I hated the way I looked. It gave me shivers and an uncomfortable feeling in my gut whenever I saw my reflection, and yet I was staring at myself today. I was staring at my masculine features and thought about what Jasper had said on our way home.

I whispered, “Could I…be pretty there?”