Okay yeah, it’s Sunday but here we are. Today’s tiny piece is brought to you by Sims 4 and the Star Trek holodeck. Enjoy!
Unreality
Annalise swiped lazily through the gallery, not quite knowing what she was looking for but also knowing just what she was looking for. It was a “know it when I see it” kind of situation, really. Her budget was $30 and not a cent more, but she was going to get the most out of those dollars. She’d finally got her tax papers in order and she’d decided weeks ago that getting to it would be worth exactly $30 of frivolous spending on her oasis.
She’d started building her oasis three years earlier after a neighbor put a notice up that they were selling their holo-set. It was older but in decent order, and she’d upgraded it a few time since with software patches and increased ram. She’d known right away that she wanted to build a beach house, like the one she’d spent a summer in visiting a new-deceased aunt. It had been slow-going. The tech was there—virtual spaces that you could move around in and customize were common and incredibly convincing—but sadly it had come before the Star Trek post-capitalist future. High-quality assets weren’t cheap, and a few of her friends liked to rib her for spending so much money on things that “weren’t real”. In a way they were right but then again—what the heck else was she supposed to spend it on? Cute dresses to change out of and into the uniform for her dead-end job? Upgrading her shitty rental that she might get kicked out of at any moment? She’d rather dream.
“Yes….” she mumbled when she saw it. A set of pillows, all shades of turquoise, that would go perfect with the sofa she’d bought herself for Christmas last year. $25, which meant she could get a latte, too. She double and triple checked the screenshots and the information, made sure the 1-star reviews weren’t too concerning and that it wasn’t a sneaky rental passing itself off as a purchase. It all checked out. “Jackpot.” She smiled and hit “buy”.