The smell of cooking bacon wafted through the air. I was in the kitchen making breakfast for my daughter and I before she had to go to school. My daughter finally came down dressed in her school uniform. Even though it is a public school they had adopted school uniforms"Morning, mom. Breakfast almost ready?"
"Good morning Yuki. Yes, it is just about done. Go sit down, and I will bring it out."
A short while later, we were sitting at the table, enjoying our scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Ever since I divorced my ex-husband, we had been living frugally. My Ex was the CEO of a worldwide electronics company.
I had met him when I was a freshman in college, and he was here starting the American branch of his company as he was originally from j.a.pan. After several months of dating, we got married. I had dropped out of school, and we moved to j.a.pan. It was great living there, and I enjoyed the culture. His parents were not happy with our marriage, and they would make it clear that I was not the ideal wife, however, despite all that, I did enjoy my life.
That didn"t last long, however. Several years after Yuki was born, we moved back to the US so he could manage that branch. His company was developing a new type of virtual reality product that would turn the compet.i.tion on its head. Because of that, he needed to be there in the project"s final days.
During this time, Yuki had started high school, and I was a stay at home mom. It was in Yuki"s junior year of high school that I discovered the affair my ex-husband had. He was seeing another woman from the company. Angry, I decided to confront him about it.
He had told me his parents were right, and I was not a good wife for someone of stature. So his family found him a much more suitable wife. During the divorce process, I was in a deep depression. I had given up on my dreams to be his wife and the mother of his children, and he threw it all away as if it meant nothing.
I had started to drink heavily, going about most of the day in a drunken stupor. Yuki had taken care of me during that year. We had only gotten a small settlement from the divorce. Which consisted of a lump sum of 50,000 dollars, child support until, and my share of the company, which only amounted to the new VR devices they were developing.
It was a big slap in the face, and to make matters worse, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d even removed Yuki from any inheritance. Saying that once he has a proper child, they won"t need the compet.i.tion from any b.a.s.t.a.r.d children. That was what sent me over the edge, to treat our child like she was some kind of inconvenience.
We were kicked out of the house and forced to move from District A, which was a high-cla.s.s district to District F. The US had done away with its states after a ma.s.sive economic crash back in 2020. There had been a revolt and civil war that lasted for about five years before the government was able to regain control. Due to this, all the states had been disbanded and in place were districts labeled from A to G.
Moving to District F, we found a cheap 2-bedroom 1-bath house for 30,000 dollars and was close to where my parents lived. Yuki didn"t show it, but I knew she was devastated, how could her father who she trusted and loved just to throw her away like that. Once we settled in, I changed mine and Yuki"s last names from Hamasaki to my maiden name of Allen.
After a while, Yuki managed to help pull me from my depression, and we decided to start a new life with just me and her.
"Hey, mom, any luck finding a job?"
Yuki"s voice had brought me out of my thoughts of the past.
"Not yet, sweetie, and before you ask, no, I don"t need you to get a job. You focus on your school and get into a good college and leave the adulting to me. It"s my job to take care of you, not the other way around; you took care of me enough as it is."
Yuki nodded her head, but I could see the sadness in her eyes. Still, though, this is a burden that shouldn"t be placed on her shoulders. I had a few jobs in the past, but I was always replaced for the newer, younger model.
"Don"t look so sad; your aunt is coming over today to help me look for a job."
"All right, mom. Well, I am off to school, tell Aunt Alex I said hi, and remember I am here if you need me."
Yuki grabbed her last piece of toast and rushed out the door with her bag. Hearing the door close, I sighed to myself, placing my hands over my face and started to cry for a bit. A few moments later, I stood up and gave my cheeks a few slaps.
(No more pity party. Pull yourself together.)
I spend the morning cleaning up the house before sitting down at our cheap old computer and started looking through job listings. Thirty minutes into my search, I heard a knock on the door. I lock the PC and walk over to the door and answer it. Opening it up, I see my twin sister Alexa. She always hated that name as she was made fun of in school. People would call her name and ask her to play a song, so she just started going by Alex.
She had short dirty blond hair done in a cute layered pixie-bob, unlike my medium length hair I usually wore in a bun. Seeing as we were twins, we both had blue eyes and a somewhat pale complexion. She was wearing yoga pants, a tank top, and some running shoes. She was always the fit one and enjoyed her exercise.
"Hey Alex, how are you?"
We hug for a bit before walking into the living room to talk.
"Sarah! It"s good to see you again. It"s been alright, that girl I was seeing decided that she wasn"t really into other girls, so we ended it. Anyway, enough about me. I am here to help you find a job."
Back in high school, Alex came out to our parents and me. Of course, we already knew that, but we just waited for her to tell us in her own time when she was ready. Ever since then, her confidence spiked, and she started to get more active and wearing less baggy clothing. I was never subject to bullying, but she was, and it was great when she finally broke out of her sh.e.l.l and started to stand up for herself.
"Yeah, I started looking earlier today, and I applied for a few jobs."
"Well…what if I told you I know of a job where you can make good money?"
"I would tell you that it already sounds like a get rich scam."
"Hahaha! Normally you would be right, but this one is different. It involves those VR pods that are coming out soon."
The mention of those stupid VR pods brings down my mood.
"Look, I don"t care about those stupid VR pods. For all I care, Kaito, and his stupid company can burn down in flames. Once we get those pods, I am selling them."
"Ok, ok, I get it; you hate the pods. But please just hear me out and seriously think about what I have to say."
I look at Alex for a few moments before I let out a long sigh. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.
"Ok fine, I"ll listen to you and seriously consider what you have to say."
"That"s a good sister! So, what if I told you there was a way to earn money by using the pods?"
"And how is that exactly?"
"Well, that new VR game coming out, Rebirth Online, allows you to buy and sell in-game currencies and items. So what this means is you just need to use your pod and play the game, h.e.l.l maybe it would help you loosen up a bit too, we both know you haven"t had the best couple of years."
"Thanks for reminding me. So, I just need to play this game, and I can earn money that way? If it"s that easy, won"t everybody be doing it?"
"I"m sorry, I forget that you don"t know how games generally work. So, what will happen is that in the beginning, most players will be trying to do that. But that"s where this opportunity presents itself. You can make the most money by either finding the rarest of items or by making it yourself. At the start, the market will be flooded with common items, and that is where you come in by presenting either rare items you find or craft."
"Alright, I think I understand now. But how do you know this?"
"Remember that girl I was seeing? It turned out she worked for the company making the game. She let a few things slip here and there when we were drunk."
After hearing everything Alex had to say to me, I lean back on the small sofa we have. It is an excellent opportunity to earn some money for Yuki and me, but at the same time, I will have to use that b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s technology to do it. I think about the pros and cons for a while before I give my answer.
"Fine. I"ll do it. I don"t want to, but it"s for Yuki, and right now, I can"t be picky."
Alex smiles at me and gives me a hug.
"Great! Don"t worry; I will be joining you in-game as well. I will try to help you out. Besides, on top of earning money, you will be essentially be living a second life. Something you desperately need, and you can spend some quality time with Yuki and me as well."
We spend the rest of the time chatting waiting for Yuki to get home.