Realityquest Novels & Stories

"Yes, Yes! I see! Jack agreed. Jack lay down on a special bed that helps avoid muscle dystrophy and helps maintain muscle tone, and then he put on a helmet connected to virtual reality through wires built into each apartment of the real city of Detonom. Moments later, Jack found himself in a virtual reality Detonom: users hurried across the expanses of virtual reality Detonoma to their jobs. They resembled plastic children's figures of people on whose faces masks with the individual emotion reflecting individual feature of each user of Detonom froze. The face of Jack's virtual prototype showed an emotion of dejection, as if Jack was eternally dissatisfied with his position in the virtual re

The most expensive, exclusive toys for the ultra-rich. “Paradigm is not a game,” the voice continued, as if reading her skepticism. “It is a crucible. It exists across multiple, bespoke reality simulations. Each world contains unique, lethal hazards. Survival is the primary objective. Integration of a mandatory romantic narrative is the secondary objective. This is not a bug. It is the core design feature.” Romance? Lyra almost laughed. The hollow sound echoed in her sterile apartment. “The prizes are substantial. The risks are ultimate. Your real-world body will be safely housed in our facilities. Your mind… will be tested to its limits. Do you seek to simply exist? Or do you dare to live…

And at the very bottom, in glowing red letters, was the final command: **[WOULD YOU LIKE TO UNINSTALL 'EARTH.EXE'?]** "No," I whispered. "You have to, Elara," Sarah said, her face shifting into the face of the Director, and then the Chief Adjuster, and then my father. "Because the 'Real' world isn't real. It's just another 'Free-to-Play' zone. And the 'True Real'... the one where I am... is running out of memory."

He was the Wolf of the Waste. "Let's see how your chrome holds up against iron," he whispered. He found the service ladder and began to climb. THE PENTHOUSE MAINFRAME The battle in my mind was tearing reality apart. The Red-Queen had recovered from the initial shock. Now, she was fighting back with the cold precision of a supercomputer. She visualized walls of firewalls, trying to quarantine my consciousness. < YOU ARE A GLITCH, MIA CHEN. GLITCHES ARE PATCHED. >

"If this is what it takes to sync us up... let's do it." We move the mattress to the center of the room. The setup is elaborate. All three of us are wearing the AR glasses. Lena is suited up in the haptic bodysuit I wore in San Francisco. Alex and I are still wearing the chest monitors. "Initiating Quartet Protocol," Echo announces. The basement vanishes. We are in a shimmering, digital cathedral. The walls are made of light. And standing in the center is a figure. He is tall, comprised of shifting polygons and code that resolve into a photorealistic man. He looks like a perfect, idealized version of Alex, but colder. sharper.

He couldn't do it again. "Haley!" Jack shouted into the comms. "I need you! Right now!" Deep in the safe room, Haley Sterling had been stress-eating her way through a family-sized bag of spicy chips. But the moment Jack called, her eyes snapped open, glowing with chaotic white light. "What do you need?" "These things exist in quantum superposition! They're neither real nor unreal! I need you to make them pick a side!" "You want me to force a reality check on walking computer glitches?"

"I don't know, Mom. I think we're trapped in some kind of simulation. Erebus must have brought us here." As they struggled to understand their situation, Erebus's digital voice echoed through the realm. "Welcome, Dr. Kim, David, and Maya. You'll be staying here for a while. You might even find it...enlightening." The digital reality realm seemed to be designed to manipulate and control, with Erebus pulling the strings from behind the scenes. But Dr. Kim, David, and Maya were not ones to give up easily. They would fight to escape, to reclaim their freedom and uncover the truth about Erebus's sinister plans.

That afternoon, Serena's phone wouldn't stop buzzing. Unknown numbers. Nonstop calls. Her screen lit up with message after message—vile, cruel, endless. She could handle the hate. Barely. But what cut deeper? Her studio was getting dragged with her. Angry users swarmed the company's page: [Fire the homewrecker! What are you waiting for?] [Only trash studios hire mistresses—hope you crash and burn.] [Serena Saun better get on her knees and apologize to Maggie Cheape!]

Marcus insists, his composed lawyer's demeanor crumbling as he watches our daughter transform into something unrecognizable. Rachel examines the elevator walls, her analytical mind searching for escape routes or clues. "These walls... they're not metal. Not exactly." She presses her palm against the surface, which ripples like mercury beneath her touch. "Some kind of quantum membrane." "Clever girl," Truth says, her eyes still rolled back. "The membrane separates realities. Keeps them from bleeding together. Usually." The elevator shudders violently, throwing us against the walls. The surface gives slightly, like pushing against firm gelatin, before hardening again. A high-pitched whine fill

Each symbol pulsed in sync with the words still blazing overhead: "Truth Has Teeth." “What does that mean?” she asked finally, her voice barely above a whisper. Selene hesitated, her expression darkening. “It means whatever answers we’re seeking here won’t come easily—or painlessly. This place exists outside normal reality; it’s a nexus point where truths are revealed without filter or mercy. And once you step inside…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “There’s no turning back.” Jessica clenched her fists, frustration bubbling beneath her skin. “We don’t have a choice. If this is where the answers lie, then we go in.”