[ WP ] You have 2 lives , one in the virtual world and one in the real world . You are facing a decision of having to decide which one of the two you get to keep .

Preface: Not really sure how good this is; it's a difficult prompt to write on without having logical inconsistencies, but I did my best. Hope you enjoy! 
 
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 `` So, what do you want to do?'' 
 
 I turned back to Dani. She'd always been there for me. Watched as I slowly got sucked into this other world, as I danced between reality and simulation perilously. I was on a razor's edge, trying to balance two lives, and I was tilting dangerously on this tightrope. 
 
 `` What do you mean?'' I asked her. 
 
 `` You ca n't keep this up. You and I know it.'' 
 
 I reflected on this briefly, mind whirring through the possible responses that would help me maintain this balancing act. But did I really want to? 
 
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 It had been two years since the VirtuSims program hit the market. Suddenly, an MMO that covered all aspects of human life was readily available, and it took the market by storm. Where once we'd only had fantasies from movies like [ Gamer ] ( http: //www.imdb.com/title/tt1034032/ ), where we controlled other human beings who willingly volunteered their time, we now faced an entirely virtual world that we could engineer ourselves, or interact with others in. 
 
 This was a product unlike any other, though. Initial reports made that very clear; this was n't some game or world you could immerse yourself in through some kind of virtual immersion technology ( like things based on the Xbox Kinect, which had become a virtual reality system with the Xbox 1080 ), but a game where you *were transported into it*. The world, rightly, did n't know what to do. Human beings were suddenly being *transported* into games and worlds they wanted to make real. 
 
 The game began as expected; when people start being broken down into molecules and reassembled in a game, there are bound to be glitches. During testing, it was rumored that people died. Gruesome stories of missing livers, arms where noses should be, and even piles of human mush were whispered about, but the testing was kept very secret. The product they released in 2061, the VirtuSims world, was declared to be flawless and safe for human consumption. 
 
 That's not to say that it was. But when has that ever stopped humanity from taking risks? As a species, we're not exactly the best at heeding our instincts on security when faced with the opportunity for a better life. 
 
 Governments reacted as expected. At the first report of a gamer glitch, where someone lost a toe, they began banning the system by the dozens. That only worked for so long, though. Humans, like I said earlier, were never the best at listening. 
 
 Realizing they could no longer hold back this **flood** of demand, governments placed their best scientists on the case, cooperating in unprecedented amounts with the private sector, to make the game safe. In 2064, the game was re-released, and the *real* trouble began. 
 
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 I was staring off into the distance again. I snapped back to focus. 
 
 `` See?! What are you going to do?'' Dani was yelling at me. Nothing new there. 
 
 `` I'm fine. Just a little tired lately.'' I responded, trying to placate her. 
 
 `` You have n't been awake in what feels like years! You've been zoning in and out of reality, spending more time there than here. You hardly sleep, you barely talk to me anymore, and we have n't had sex in 2 months! Are you too busy with some virtual whore, now?'' 
 
 Dani was livid. I suppose she had every right to be. This VirtuSims thing was quite the enticing option, and I *had* been spending every night living out my virtual reality. Could you blame me? I had everything I wanted; money, cars, anything really. I had n't cheated on Dani virtually, but if I wanted women, I could get them too. It was *easy*. And of the millions playing, the last glitch had been over 200 days before. One guy, ended up with a missing fingernail. If that was all I'd have to lose to keep playing my utopian dream, why *wouldn't* I? 
 
 `` ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!'' 
 
 Whoops. I'd forgotten about Dani. 
 
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 VirtuSims, when re-released, was a virtual world created in the `` cloud''. With our vast computing ability and nearly endless power sources ( thanks to technological advancements in the fields of superconductors, quantum mechanics, and renewable energies ), humanity was finally able to continuously sustain itself. With this happening, the basic minimum income was raised, making it possible for everyone to live for free. Robots farmed our crops, did our work, and while we'd dabbled in artificial intelligence ( AI ), humanity had decided that it was too big a risk to introduce a possible competitor when we were already able to do so much. Curiosity, at least, never won out there. Regardless, people could do anything they wanted. 
 
 And people got *bored*. 
 
 What is there to do when you have no jobs, no need for work, and no other self-defeating purpose that society imposes on you so that you can get by? There is *nothing* you need to do. You can learn an instrument, you can read, but there's no *need* for anything like that. The machines sustained themselves. The system was perfect, flawless in every way, and we had to find an answer to the growing listlessness that plagued society. The answer humanity found was both sad and happy, all at once. 
 
 We became animals. 
 
 Drugs became rampant; people could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, so long as they did n't hurt anyone else. Preventive measures like outlawing guns went out the window; guns had been gone for so long that it was already unnecessary to bother. People entered a frenzied state of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, to use some of the early-millenium terminology. Fast living, though, only lasted so long. Then, people got bored again. Medical care was too advanced to simply let them die from a drug OD, and response times too high, so some committed suicide instead. 
 
 Then VirtuSims came out. 
 
 Limited only by their imagination, those billions of people who had been bored began to really start that trouble I mentioned earlier. They went into the game, and some never came out. Creating worlds of their own, where they had a purpose, became the new norm for them. Some were secret agents, others were CEOs, and others pretended to be the heads of nations. And when things went bad, they just hit restart. As long as they hit restart before their brain died, they'd be just fine; the world was theirs to toy with at their leisure. 
 
 Innovation hit a grinding halt. People started disappearing by the thousands, then the millions... suddenly, the world population was cut in half thanks to people living their own worlds, or with each other in their new worlds. Governments in the real world became unnecessary. It was a perfect anarchy; something humanity had only dreamed of. 
 
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 `` Do we really have to do this?'' I sighed. I was so tired, so very tired. 
 
 `` You ca n't keep running away from me! This is fucking ridiculous! Pick. This world or the game!'' she screamed. 
 
 I looked her up and down, eyes glazed over. Did it really matter? 
 
 `` I'll be leaving now.'' I said, simply and clearly. My voice must've sounded dead-tired, like I felt, which clearly did n't go over well. 
 
 `` Two years, and you're walking away just like that for some bullshit game? Fuck you, fuck that game, I can not believe this shit!'' 
 
 She paused for breath, as I turned to walk away. 
 
 `` Well fine then! I do n't give a shit anymore, go find yourself some virtual whore to fuck. Just remember that you left a world where you could *really* feel the sun, you asshole!'' 
 
 And with that, I rounded the corner to our room as she began to gather her things in the living room. I could still hear her shouting to herself as I set up my VirtuSims module. I was done with this world anyways, so why not take up residence in the new one? At least there, I could do whatever I wanted. 
 
 I stood in front of the atomizer and started up the game. 
 
 `` Welcome back. Would you like to enter?'' the robotic voice asked me. 
 
 `` Yes. And I would like to stay.'' 
 
 `` Very well. Initializing sequence now. Enjoy your stay.'' 
 
 I felt myself being pulled apart familiarly, before my atoms were whisked away, into the system to be reassembled in lines of code. As soon as I arrived, I felt the sun on my face. At least, that's what I thought I felt. You never really knew anymore. 
 
 I looked down at the ground, and saw a pool of blood lapping at my feet and growing. My chest was gaping, and it looked like my heart had become a misshapen mess. 
 
 `` First glitch in hundreds of days, just my luck''. With that thought, I collapsed, and the game erased my code for good.
