“Welcome to DanceStar!” Hoshi says as Taiyo looks around in awe.

“Wow…never been inside an arcade game before.”

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“It doesn’t even feel real.”

“But it is real.”

As they walk through an endless expanse of neon, Taiyo lets go of any rational explanation for the heaven he’s experiencing. It was almost funny to even consider explaining any of this to Tomo, and why would he need to. What mattered was the present moment, not who he could convince of it. 

“Are you able to control all of this?”, asked Taiyo.

“Within my programming.”

“Ah…”

“Like look at this…”

With a snap of her fingers, Hoshi changes the entire scenery around them. Suddenly they became enclosed in a beautiful fall forrest. A kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, and yellows filled the distance, leaves caressing the wind until they came to their grassy resting place. Above, a sky as blue as any Taiyo had seen in the outside world almost made him forget he was inside of an arcade game…inside of an arcade. As he stared at the slow movement of the clouds, Hoshi joined at his side and looked up.

“We can be floating in the clouds, or inside a futuristic subway. On the high seas, or on a snowy mountain peak.”

“Woah, so you can change the surroundings to whatever you want?”

“Within my programming.”

“What else can you do in here?”

“I can change the color of the final score screen.” Hoshi says in earnest.

“Less impressive…but still cool.”

“You really think so! Wait until you see this…”

Before them appeared a quaint picnic setting, complete with blanket, basket of food, and enough room for two.

“Come and sit.”