I wake up and I can barely remember my dream. All I feel is softness. Softness all around me. Soft sheets and soft blankets and soft light. I take a moment to just gaze at my room. And then I pull myself up from my bed and go to brush my teeth. 

The bathrooms are made of granite, with granite sink bowls and granite taps and granite walls. It's calming. There are mirrors everywhere, even on the ceiling. On some of the mirrors are painted soothing scenes in expensive paint. There are little vases of flowers everywhere. The whole place smells like flowers. 

I go to the cafeteria and I wander around all the tables, looking down around me and up at the ceiling. Around me the room slowly becomes occupied with teenaged girls. We make small talk. Mostly about our day yesterday. About our plans for all the things we bought. 

Breakfast arrives and with it so does Lydia. The pattern is falling into place. The new pattern of our lives. The pattern that will be our lives for the next three months. Whether we want it to be or not. But no matter, of course we want it. 

"Good morning girls. Did you all sleep well? I hope you slept well." 

"We did," we reply in unison. Did I sleep well? I don't know. No matter I probably slept well. How could you not sleep well on such a smooth, soft bed? 

"Are you all ready to start your day?" Her voice is bright.

"Yes," We reply in equally bright tones. But is there .. is there something full about our tones? Something dreary? No matter, I must be imagining it. 

Lydia explains the plan for the day as we all listen quietly, looking at the forms that drape down from the roof. She is excited and happy about all we are planning to do. Of course she is. Why wouldn't she be? Why wouldn't we all be? 

We are going to an immersive game today, and we will eat breakfast and launch at a fine upscale restaurant. This is going to be so fun. I haven't gone to an immersive game in years. I almost forgot how fun they were. And I'll get to play with all of my friends as well. This will be such a great opportunity to spend time with them. And I haven't been to a restaurant in ages as well. I bet the food is going to taste so amazingly good. 

We chat excitedly as we finish our breakfast. Breakfast is fluffy, light chocolate chip pancakes that melt in your mouth, soaked through with rich, sweet maple syrup and lathered with butter. It's delicious. And there is a chocolate and red velvet cheesecake for dessert. It's all so sweet. And the chatter of our conversation is also so sweet. I go to brush my teeth after breakfast, with mint and ice toothpaste that tastes so refreshing.

I comb through my closet. Maggie bought me a bunch of stuff. She looked at the clothes in the stores and couldn't resist thinking about me. I have so many more clothes now that we got the chance to go shopping. I have so much more choice. And oh what bright and beautiful choices these are. Such bright and beautiful outfits to choose from. 

I pick a silken dress that is made of thick fabric and goes down to my knees. It's made of swirling baby pink, creme, and light blue patterns. The light blue is the shade of cornflowers. Embroidered onto the front with shimmering copper threads is the form of a cherry tree and many three-dimensional petals are sown onto its branches. I put on a pair of high-heels that match and are surprisingly comfortable on my feet. I put on a fine silver chain with light pink and cornflower blue gems threaded through it and a charm bracet with many beautiful charms. 

I do my makeup in front of the mirror. First I drown everything in a layer of foundation. Then I contour with highlight and bronzer. Then I add light pink blush. I paint my eyebrows a glittering light blue and I paint my lips a soft pastel pink. It's beautiful. I look beautiful. 

I put on earrings, and an anklet that matches my bracelet. Finally I am ready. 

Maggie is also dressed beautifully. She wears a light yellow taffeta blouse with a green and bright purple poppy arching and bending to the side. She wears light purple denim pants that are threaded through with golden thread to form a candy-cane pattern of thin gold lines. Her blouse is tucked into her pants and her collar has a bow on it, so do her short sleeves. She looks breathtaking. I tell her so. 

We walk together, arm in arm, down the grand hallway lined with beautiful things. We meet the others in the large, green, neatly-manicured courtyard, that is filled with shaped hedges and bubbling fountains and flower beds and exotic birds with clipped wings. It's beautiful out here. 

Aisha and Cara are sitting on a large, ornately carved picnic table with the smoothest surface I have seen in my life. I go to join them. And we chatter about our day. About the outfits we picked out and why we chose them. About how long it's been since we went to an immersive game. About how we can't wait to go to the game. About what we wonder that the game will be about. 

I smell orange trees, and lemon trees, and lilacs and lavender and hyacinth and jasmine. I could get lost in this. I could drift away in it forever. I could live here out in the courtyard forever. 

Lydia eventually comes down, wearing a golden gown that drapes down to her ankles in flowing folds. The dress hugs her waist tight, and there are many golden bows on her collar. She wears shimmering golden eyeshadow. All of her seems to be shimmering. She seems to bloom, a dark and shining flower. 

She tells us that it's time to go. And we all file towards the many cars in the garage. 

This time I sit with Brigely and Nocta, all round our central table. The car sways and music flows through our ears. We make jokes and sing along with the songs on the radio. We paint each other's nails with the bright red nail polish that Nocta smuggled in through her pocket. It's such a bright colour. It doesn't go with my outfit but it looks well nonetheless. Laughter fills the air. The wind blows through our hair. It's perfect. All perfect. 

We get to the immersive game theatre. And it's a huge, arching building with many big pillars and a shining glass front. It's big, the theatre's big. But of course it's big. The big rooms inside make the holographic games feel even more realistic. 

We file in through the crystal revolving door. And we look at all the large screens offering different advertisements for different games. There must be thousands of them. I am completely overwhelmed. I have no idea how we'll choose. 

"Look through the different adds, girls." Lydia's voice is high and lilting, like molten silver. "We're all going to vote on what to play in twenty minutes." 

"Yes, Ms. Lydia," we all chime back, snd it's almost like a song, the sound of all of our voices together. 

I get on a hover pad and fly to many different game displays. There are games about space, about going on voyages through the stars. There are games about beautiful historical events filled with castles and masked balls and roses growing throughout the countryside. There are games about fantastical worlds full of monsters and creatures. There are games about magic with floating objects and sparking energy balls and bright magical battles. There are games about underwater exploration. Games about creating your own world. The list truly is endless. 

I have no idea how I will pick. Every single thing seems so good. I remind myself that I don't have to pick. I can just be satisfied looking through all the adds and letting my imagination run wild. My friends can pick for me. Unless of course they have happened upon the same predicament and also can't pick. 

And so I fly around, looking at each and every screen that I can. They all seem to pop. And I find that it's almost a game in and of itself, to see how many advertisements I can look at. 

Eventually the twenty minutes are up and we all gather together under the huge glass wall that lets us see outside, that the sunlight comes streaming through. We discuss what we want to play. Zeinab wants to play a game about rising to the top in the courts of Ghengis Khan. Delores wants to play a game about discovering new creatures on alien planets. Valentina wants to play a game about exploring the depths of the sea. Lumina wants to play a game about living in a magical world. Ishani wants to play a game about meeting and dancing with princes in the olden times. Nora wants to play a game about fighting monsters. 

We all take a vote. And Lydia counts up all the hands. Lumina's game wins by two hands. And the majority of us sigh but we are bright about it. We will have fun no matter what game we play, and this game sounds beautiful and relaxing. 

So we all make our way to the large, gaping arena with high ceilings and we spread ourselves out as the arena fills with fog and the holographic images are spun to life. 

[scene continued in next part]