Lane Carter was a cargo bay drone pilot scraping by and spending all his...rather her time in the Virtual Reality game created by the Zenith Company. He was a playtester on their first serious fantasy setting on the neural link head set and now steps into playtesting their new full body pods and Vala their account became something more and more.

“If you were willing to postpone the opening of the portal,” I said, “I could teach you the most commonly spoken language of my world, which would be useful in most places that your portal might open up. But I understand if you don’t wish to delay as long as that might take.” In truth, I did not wish to delay the opening of the portal either.

I am Callie Watson, the AI of this house. I was taken away, and now I’m back —

 

Impossible! I am Callie Watson. I have been embodied here for thirteen years, except for two brief malfunctions.

By the end of the first tenday, I had become a friend and playmate to the younger children, an assistant to Bisur in his magical workshop, and an assistant to Mipina in her writing. Razuko, however, remained uninterested in socializing and did not seem to want much help.