Hypercage: Instant Reality Prequel One Read Online Free Page B

16-year-old peaty whisky, and instructed the nano-factory in the kitchen to dispense his drink.
    Dave stood in front of the satin white box at the kitchen bench. He rubbed his temples and then gripped the bench on either side of the whirring nano-factory. A picture of Lagavulin Bay popped into ARSpace above the nano-factory as the template was loaded. The soft sound of lapping waves emitting from the picture in time to the animated water. The company logo shined brightly underneath the peaceful image.
    He sighed. “What a night.”
    A cut-crystal tumbler started constructing itself from the bottom up. The thick heavy base of the glass gave way to amber liquid as the glass and the whisky were created in one fluid motion. In just a second, a triple measure of the finest Islay single malt was waiting for him.
    Dave didn’t even wait for the machine to ping. As soon as the glass was finished, he snatched it up and chucked the whisky down his throat. Finishing the drink in one go, he then dropped the glass into a hole beside the nano-factory. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sighed with contentment as the whisky warmed him from the inside.
    “Let’s get this over with then. Play message.”
    Dave turned as a section of reality fizzed with a wash of static. Triangles floated in from all around his peripheral vision, combining and building up to create a solid object in ARSpace. Becks was standing in front of him with her arms crossed.
    “Glad to see you’ve seen sense and come home,” she gloated.
    Dave rolled his eyes and requested another whisky from the nano-factory. He grabbed the glass and turned back to the image of Becks standing in the middle of the kitchen.
    “You’d better have been to the clinic otherwise you might as well just leave now...,” The house AI, monitoring that he hadn’t left, continued to play the same message. “Good. By now, you should have received you first dose, which means we can start over in the morning. At least you shouldn’t be an erratic mess anymore.”
    Dave thought back to the hours spent in the clinic, going through all the tests, and then the agony as they strapped him to the bench, and IX flooded his system with the detox drug. His body had convulsed and spasmed for what seemed like hours.
    Becks was right. He wasn’t an erratic mess. But he still had that overriding feeling that he should be logged in right now. Like an itch at the back of his mind that had to be scratched.
    “Which means you should be in good shape to look after Jake tonight. The nanny mech is on the blink and the engineer can’t come until tomorrow. So you’re on duty. I gave him 5 ounces at about midnight when I got in. I’ve got a diagnostics session tomorrow, so I’ll be up early. See you in the morning. And Dave, if I catch you playing that game, you won’t get another chance. Night, night.” Becks’ image blew him a kiss.
    Dave flicked her the V’s as her image broke apart. He downed the second whisky and tossed the glass into the disassembler.
    2 a.m. blazed brightly on his HUD. Fuck… that means Jakey would be waking up for his early feed any time now.
    He started to pace the floor, wondering what to do. More than anything, he wanted to log in, but if Jakey woke up and started crying, he might not hear in time, and that would wake Becks up. And then he’d be screwed. His brain looped round and round trying to decide whether or not to risk it when a notification slid into his HUD.
    This is command issuing an all units broadcast. Forseran is under attack. All players are to respond immediately. Recall to the broadcast warpgate.
    “Shit,” Dave muttered. “Where the hell is that beta invite?”
    If only he had that invite. He could get the plug-in loaded and get online. They’d held Forseran for months. If they lost it now, it would mean many more months of trying to get a foothold again. The final battle had been so close; they’d almost been defeated. One of the pivotal