The following morning Lance awoke to the knock on his door. It opened slowly as his dad peeked in.

  “ Hey bud. Wake up, I need your help.”

  Lance looked at his clock. It was six thirty a.m. He rolled his eyes. “What dad, can it wait.”

  “ No, just get up. Meet me in the backyard.”

  Lance sat up exhausted. He had only got around 5 hours of sleep. He got dressed quickly and threw on his shoes.

  “Yup…feels like a Monday.”

  His father was the only person home, his mother and sister would be gone by now to work and school. Lance stepped out back stretching as he felt the sunlight hit his back. He heard shuffling coming from the garage. Walking in he noticed the sound was his dad sanding down a table that his dad made for his mother. His dad took a mask from the table next to him and tossed it over. Lance caught it and put it on.

  “ Once we finish sanding this we'll stain and seal the wood. We can move it to the patio tonight. 50 bucks?”

  Lance smiled, before his viewcube this kind of offering made him hop up for joy but now he had money and didn't even know what to spend it on. He knew he wasn't rich, but he had more money that he had plans for. “ Heck yeah.” he said, strapping on his mask.

  His father turned on the radio and for a few hours the pair of them sanded and then stained the table. Just as they were finishing up, beginning to clean, the two of them stopped to listen to the broadcast as an emergency alert went out.

  “ Breaking news, the new Specter 3 console was found to have a science breaking revelation. Individuals are able to use the console and rest for the duration of play, allowing them to wake with a full rest, restarting their day. Since the console's release last week a handful of testers have since been taking the console through rigorous methods to test its limits. Outside of the use for rest, individuals have said that physical limits for weight training and memory have improved. Scientists at TMG University's current working hypothesis on why these outcomes are being reported is that neural pathways in the brain are being rewired for efficiency.

  The broadcaster cut to a recording of a TMG Scientist : MRI scans of individuals whove used the console are showing increased activity in areas of the brain that are usually only at work while unconscious, tapping into this area of the brain is allowing for the human brain to essentially have more computing. So to speak. It's a potential increase of at least 30 to 50 percent mental capacity noted in some cases. Not to include increased intelligence, just the mental function. We highly anticipate the results of individuals with mental illness such as Alzheimer's, Cerebral Palsy, Parkinson's and other born intellectual disabilities.

  It cut back to the radio broadcaster: Oddnet, The company responsible for the Specter Consoles have yet to put out a statement in response to these allegations. Many countries are trying to get in touch with the company with anxious reply, here in America the CDC has put out a statement warning users that en quote

  “ The applications of this product may or may not have lasting effects and while those effects are still unknown they may not be favorable.” Congress is in current debate on whether or not to allow sale or to pause distribution of the console. As such some individuals are posting online about not being able to find the console due to short initial stock and secondhand market sales being ridiculously priced, the current trend…” the radio continued to play Lance's father looked at him.

  “ Is that the new console you just bought?”

  “ Yeah, but I don't see what they're talking about. I feel fine.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “ I'm not so sure you should continue to use it. That stuff sounds pretty heavy, it could be messing with you.”

  “ Dad, trust me, it's totally fine. It's really fun to be honest. Never thought about using it to sleep though it sounds interesting. You should give it a try. I can make you a new profile. Besides, it only lets you play for a little bit.”

  “ Hmph.. You just need to be careful. This situation doesn't sound simple. Whatever, help me take this to the patio. I can seal the wood without you after that.”

  Lance and his dad moved the table over to the patio area. His dad thanked him for the help dismissing him. Shortly after Lance showered then ate a late breakfast. He had online classwork to do and some studying afterwards.

  Hopping onto his computer he noticed a staggering amount of notifications on his Specter app, thirty six in total. Before he fell into that he dismissed it and put on music and got to work. He lost himself in schoolwork and the morning passed into the afternoon.

  He then logged onto his Viewcube account. He had a few ideas for his next couple of videos. Lance's jaw dropped when he looked at his recent video of himself and King. Not only had his video ended up on the front page but his view count totaled Fourteen million, from two days online. He looked at his account and he had received two million new subscribers and thousands of comments. His mailbox was loaded again with more individuals attempting to help him with editing and to work on content together. Upon reaching the bottom of the mailbox something caught his eye. Amidst all the potential sponsors, content creators, and editors alike, he found one name that he heard from Reilly, Dorkburgler. He was the first in his inbox, or last since his recent clearing. The email asked if Lance wanted to make a video with DorkBurgler. He promised to allow the video to be posted on both their channels and to promote the content on Lance's channel as a bonus for the help. He sent his Specter profile name as another way to get in touch. DorkSnype.

  Lance thought about it and decided to watch videos on his channel. After watching a few he began to notice a trend. DorkBurgler had a lot more videos on game genres other than fantasy games. He had only recently swapped to games in that vein, but unfortunately none of the content seemed to be doing as well for views. He also had zero videos up from Wish Legacy. Lance thought that perhaps he had been stuck on how to showcase himself within the game. He waited to reply but wanted to talk with the other team members first. Any interaction on such a large scale was a potential risk, and not one he would take lightly.

  Lance began to edit some smaller videos, some simple videos about cave navigation he and the others had made. Showing the roof of the cave and the exit was a sly nod he snuck in to tell people about the roof exits. He also showed himself and the others eating and cooking the bat. He of course had left out the experience gems bit, but he wanted to show off his friends and the enjoyable downtime they had while in the dungeon. He spent his day doing this until evening, his father stopped in to tell him about a new job he would be heading out to work on the following day. Lance ate dinner with his family and then hopped on his computer, finally ready to touch his console again. Before doing so he checked his Specter app, he had put the high number of notifications from his mind and forgotten them until now.

  Opening the application he found that the thread of notifications came from his chat with the others, and a few others from wish legacy, and the specter console itself. He scrolled through the chat reading the commotion. Apparently Valora hadn't been able to complete level 1. It wasn't something unexpected but nonetheless more unfortunate than they wanted. On top of that King apparently had a rough schedule over the next week, he'd be traveling for work. He would have to play it by ear to be able to hop on. Courage and Reilly were both eager to continue with which would leave behind Valora and King if the group played tonight. Lance wrote into the chat.

  Lance: “ Hey guys, we should join up at my tavern and talk about things more in depth. It would be better to talk in person. I'll hop on at the regular time. Does anyone other than Reilly know about this DorkBurgler guy? He's pretty popular. He wanted to make some videos about W.L with me. Also… Viewcube popped off with my last video King, thank you.”

  Courage: “ Yeah man. I'll be there. And awesome! Happy for you. Next time make me the shining star though! Lol.”

  Reilly: “ I will see you guys soon.”

  King: “ You’re welcome. Next meal is on you! And good luck outshining the brightest star. Hahaha”

  Valora: “ I will try to make it. See ya soon.”

  Lance checked over his other notifications. Apparently an order had been put in by someone to try his food. They ordered a serving of four of his dishes. Two of each of the cave dwellers salad, and golinalco tacos. Lance smiled and then his smile turned sour. “ Shit I don't have any goblin ingredients for these.” He sat back a little upset with himself. This was a large number of experience gems. He quickly wrote back a reply.

  “ Hello HamStar, I look forward to making you these dishes. I need a day to gather the ingredients.