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THE VIGILANT PATTERN — Volume One
Copyright © 2026 by Ryan Melrose

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews or critical articles.

This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design and interior formatting by the author.
First edition.

For inquiries, permissions, or correspondence, please contact the author directly.

1

Mason Reid and his best mate Riley Dawson wandered down the main street of Kellidale, kicking a loose pebble between them as if it were a tiny footy. The late‑morning sun warmed the roofs of the little cafés and corner shops, casting long shadows across the quiet Sunshine Coast hinterland town. Kellidale wasn’t big — just a peaceful place tucked inland between the coast and the rolling green of Landsborough Hill — but today it buzzed with more excitement than anyone could remember.

Bright banners flapped above the footpath:
KELLIDALE COMMUNITY SCIENCE FAIR — FIRST EVER!

Riley let out a low whistle. “Mate, I still can’t believe all these big tech companies came out here. Kellidale! We don’t even have a Macca’s.”

Mason laughed. “Yeah, but we’ve got a community centre and apparently that’s enough to attract half the country.”

The Kellidale Community Centre sat at the end of the street, its car park overflowing. Families streamed inside, kids dragging parents along with the kind of enthusiasm normally reserved for theme parks or free ice‑cream days. The reason was simple:

The competitions.

First prize:
A $500 gift card usable in over twenty different stores.

For a kid, that was basically a golden ticket.

Even students who couldn’t tell a microscope from a microwave had suddenly become “science lovers” overnight.

Riley nudged Mason with his elbow. “You reckon we’ve got a shot?”

Mason shrugged, though a spark of excitement flickered behind his eyes. “Depends what the judges like, I guess, I’m more interested in seeing the exhibits.”

But deep down, he felt that familiar pull — the one he always got when puzzles were involved. And this fair promised more than baking soda volcanoes and cardboard solar systems. Some of the biggest tech companies in Australia — and even a few international developers — had come to show off their newest inventions.

One booth in particular had caught Mason’s attention on the flyer:

A full‑immersion VR simulator.
A puzzle world you could touch.
A learning engine that adapted to your mind.

He didn’t know it yet, but that booth would change everything.

“Oh, let me guess,” Riley said, giving Mason a knowing smirk. “You want to try that virtual‑world puzzle thing, don’t you?”

“Heck yes I do!” Mason replied without hesitation. “Think about it — a virtual world of puzzles you can actually touch and feel. Of course I’m going to try it!”

Before Riley could respond, Mason was already speed‑walking toward the booth, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Geez…” Riley sighed, trailing after him. “If you want puzzles you can physically touch, go to a gaming store. I can get you a Rubik’s Cube online for ten bucks.”

Mason spun around mid-stride. “But don’t you want to try this? A virtual world that actually feels real? Come on!”

“I don’t need to, Mason. It’s called the Earth. As in the planet we live on.” Riley tapped the wooden booth counter. “See? Real. I can feel it.”

“Suit yourself,” Mason said, already turning back to the booth attendants. “Hi! Can I try the demo?”

The staff member — a young guy in a polo — smiled and handed him a sleek visor connected to a bulky, humming machine behind the booth. Thick cables ran from the helmet into a neural‑feedback processing unit, a boxy contraption covered in cooling vents and blinking lights. It looked like a cross between a gaming PC and a medical scanner.

“Just lower the helmet and relax,” the attendant said. “The system will calibrate automatically.”

Mason lowered the visor over his eyes.

The real world dissolved.

And a brand‑new one took its place.

It was incredible.

Not just visually stunning — tactile.
He could feel the breeze.
He could feel the warmth of the sun.
He could feel the ground beneath his feet.

A cheerful voice chimed behind him.

“Welcome, youngster, to the adventure of a lifetime!”

Mason turned to see Mr. Puzzles, the mascot from dozens of board games and mystery kits. He looked like a cartoon character; he had a Jigsaw piece for a head and a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Despite his childish appearance, the puzzles he presented were no joke.

Mason dove in.

He solved:

First needing to solve a rotating floor maze where the tiles shifted under his feet.

Next he seemed to be transported to a mirror Hall to where he saw his avatar in its reflection he looked like an agile Spandex Superhero complete with a cape and a mask with A Pale Blue Spiral shape covering the front, The suit was purple and matched the outside of the Cape, Gloves and boots the kind in fun houses. mirror‑reflection riddle where only the backwards version of a clue made sense.

Followed by a logic bridge that collapsed unless he stepped in the correct sequence

Then finally a memory‑pattern door that flashed symbols faster than most people could blink

He breezed through them, faster and faster, until he reached the final stage of the demo:

The Temple of Minds.

A towering stone structure with glowing runes and shifting walls.

Inside waited the final challenge — a digital adversary known only as:

THE ANOMALY

A tall, shadow‑like figure made of glitching code, its form flickering between shapes as if reality couldn’t decide what it was supposed to be like a glitch something that shouldn’t be there.

Its voice echoed like broken audio:

“CoMe…AnD…. FaCe… mE!!!”

Mason swallowed. “Okay… that’s creepy.”

The battle of minds began.

The Anomaly hurled logic traps, shifting mazes, impossible riddles — but Mason countered each one with growing confidence.

He was winning.

Until—

The world glitched.

The sky flickered.
The floor warped.
Mr. Puzzles’ voice distorted into static.

Then the static became a scream.

Mason’s scream.

“AHHHHH— what— what is this— I can’t— AHHHH!”

Flashes of corrupted code surged into his mind like lightning.

Outside the VR booth, Riley panicked.

“Mason! Hang on!”

He grabbed the helmet to yank it off—

A surge of electricity blasted through the visor.

“AH—!” Riley was thrown backwards, hitting the ground hard and going limp.

“Shut it down!” the booth operator shouted. “Kill the power! NOW!”

His assistant slammed a switch.

The machine powered down with a dying whine.

Mason collapsed.

The visor rolled off his head.

The lights flickered.

And everything went silent.