It was late at night. Moonlight seeped into a small room with barely enough space for a bed and desk. Lillian sat on her meager bed, holding a shiny new VR visor in her pale scarred hands. A matching VR health and data monitor has been wrapped and secured around her left wrist. New Life. A fantasy game where the developers had promised participating beta testers decent pay for player feedback and video footage of there gameplay. Only a few hundred visors were produced and sent out and she had been lucky enough to have been one of the chosen. A no name beta tester that had by some miracle been acknowledged by the developers of New Life and given a chance.
She closed her eyes, ever so carefully slid the visor through shoulder length silky hair with long trembling fingers until the delicate machinery was securely perched on the bridge of her nose. Then she felt along the ear piece for the small power button. Her ear twitched at the beeping sound it emitted before opening her eyes to become completely emerced in the virtual worlds avatar set up screen. First, there was the retina scan. Once the device recognized her as it's intended user, the AI system moved on to creating her Avatar based on the profile she had given the company using on her past experiences and interests. Standing before her on the screen was an exact digital replica of herself. A tall thin figure with skin like porcelain and brown hair laced with silver strands. Her hazel eyes stared back at her, each iris nearly a perfect split of golden brown in the top half and slate greenish blue on the bottom with flecks of both colors blending together in the middle. Suspended next to her avatar's head was the text, "Is this appearance okay?" Beneath the text were the options "yes" or "no".
Lillian gazed back at her avatar and a deep ache filled her chest. Whenever see looked at herself either in a mirror or a copy of herself on screen, she felt a sense of agonizing guilt. Although there were no visible scar marring the copies body, the constant tingling sensation plaguing the left side of her body served as a reminder of a much deeper scar. A deep resounding scar that made even the simplest tasks demanding, and the guilt of not being able to help her mother more after the sudden passing away of her stepdad. She gnashed her teeth and screwed her eyes shut, fighting back the tears. No. She was going to help her mom the only way she could. By becoming someone else. Lillian choose the "no" option, triggering the "customize" feature, changing the hair color fully to silver and the eyes a striking light blue. She took a moment to examine how the changes had affected her avatar's appearance. Gone was the broken silhouette that had been her reflection, replaced with a ethereal beauty without blemish and otherworldly. A new beginning. Lillian confirmed the changes and the prompt for her to create a new user name appeared. A small smile tugging at her lips as she thought about it. The life she had lived up to this point had been so full of promise, yet had come crashing down in a fiery inferno as wave after wave of heartache and frustration had left nothing but ashes within her heart. With this game, she could rise once more from the ashes.
"Phoenix"
She entered the vibrant world of New Life ready to be reborn.