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“You don’t have to do this,” he says, but he doesn’t even sound like he means it.
“I do,” I say, and it’s not a lie. “You can’t, so I will.”
She comes back with a man who hands me a badge like Holden’s, sans photo, and a snug lime-green T-shirt with the company’s logo on it. Holden and I do a two-minute interview together for the web series, to explain what’s going on, and then we’re led to where the other contestants are waiting for the event to start. We don’t leave the room until five minutes before the contest, so any hope I had of filming the crowd and the course beforehand are squashed. I get as many interviews from other players as I can manage, though—something I missed out on at the other events—but most of them don’t want to talk and are skeptical of my intentions, with the exception of... Lada of the intimidating name fame. She’s the only one who doesn’t treat me like a dirty cheater.
Lada is not a Russian bodybuilder like I had in mind. She’s a petite blonde wearing tie-dyed Nikes and leggings, her eyeliner sharp and perfect. She chews gum, blowing bubbles, until halfway through the interview when she realizes what she’s doingmid-sentence and spits it into a trash can four feet away, barely glancing at her target, which she hits, before diving back into the interview. She wants to win the VR headset so she can shove it in her older brothers’ faces—all six of them—that video games aren’t just for “basement-dwelling, sexist guys.”
I know it before I even finish recording: I want Lada to win. At least she’s not just in it for the headset. She has something to prove. She has motivation, stakes.
I picture it now, the bittersweet ending: we started with Yvette, but then, plot twist, we have Holden. Everyone will think what I thought about his privilege, but then feel for him because of his financial struggle and his adorable family. They’ll cheer when we get the other contestant disqualified for assault! But the real kicker will be him getting sick before the very last contest, one he has a chance of winning. They’ll bite their nails as the documentarian has to step in. She doesn’t have training, so why would she win? The defeat crushes Holden and the audience because, by now, they’ve grown to love him. I’ll convince Holden to put in a few applications for jobs, to save up money for the headset next year, maybe Repairisburg to bring things full circle.Shit, my mind is unparalleled.
The contestants and I are ushered upstairs to the main exhibit hall in the center. Loud music plays throughout the room, but the crowd can still be heard chanting “Vir-tu-al, vir-tu-al,” over and over from their positions on every side of the three-dimensional course. There are five lanes of obstacles laid out before us, each identical and completely separate from one another. So while we’re competing against each other, wewon’t have todealwith each other. The first one to the end can grab the mystery box, designed like the power boost boxes inFantastic Lorenzo’s Planet. It symbolizes the headset prototype we’ll win.
The music stops when a young Black man in a slate-gray button-down rolled up at the sleeves steps forward. He brings a microphone to his mouth, and only then do I recognize him from the website and all the articles I read. He’s grown a beard since his commonly used headshot was taken. James Heath, CEO of Vice and Virtual, addresses the crowd:
“Thank you for being here tonight. I hope that the contestants all have someone in the crowd to cheer them on,” he says with a smile, taking in each contestant one by one and not even noticing there’s an extra player in Holden’s lane. “I know the trip from Pennsylvania to New York is not an easy one to make sometimes, so if youdon’thave someone here, let me lend you my enthusiastic staff.” The crowd unleashes an uproar. “I’d like to thank all two hundred of them for not only being here tonight, on the weekend—” A rumble of laughter echoes throughout the room. “They are getting paid—don’t worry—but they’re also making sure this event flourishes. It meant a lot to me to be able to shine a light on my home state and the businesses that helped me get where I am today. Now, you may have noticed that I was absent from the first two events. I have to apologize for that. I have been extremely busy working on the latest version of the headset, but I also wanted to get things in place here, at the Vice and Virtual headquarters, because I’ll be giving the winner not only the prototype but an exclusive,private tour of where this company does its fine work.”
Applause rings around the room and I join in half-heartedly, my heart thumping in my throat. Aside from having to tell Corrine the truth about my documentary, the only time I can recall being this nervous was cheerleading tryouts. Corrine failed to mention to me beforehand that everyone makes the team. She said she wanted me to bring my A game.
“I paid them to clap at that.”
Everyone laughs.
“And to laugh.”
Everyone laughs again.
“But in all seriousness, I’m so excited to get this going. The participants have been explained the rules and once we’ve crowned our winner, the tracks will be available for anyone’s use—one at a time—and for photos.”
He hands the microphone to Chrissy Lo and she instructs the players to take their places. I fix the GoPro onto my helmet while Holden starts recording on my camera behind me. He’s green again. This documentary is going to have so many shitty shots. But at least he’s familiar with a camera.
Chrissy Lo counts down from five and then the four players on my left, ready before their lanes, tense. I explode forward when she criesGo!and give this my almost-all.
I jump over platforms with gusto, dodge spinning objects in my way without falling off the balance beam I’m running over, slide down tunnels like a little kid at a public park, stomp a box open to the beat of the loud music so I can retrieve a key that opens a door, and—holy shit—I’m at the end. Themystery box sits innocently in a large, empty space that every door opens into. The crowd doesn’t have access to this area, so no one will know who actually gets to the box first. But it’s me, even though I tried not to be first. It’sHolden.
I can’t breathe. I rush forward to snag the box before remembering that I don’t want to win, Holden can’t win, there needs to be an upset—a reason to keep filming, to find a better ending than Holden doing the contest and winning the contest. Another door opens next to me and Lada charges. I could just grab the box and end this. But there’s nothing interesting about easy. Even considering the ups and downs, Holden is just some kid who wants a VR headset for free. What kind of story is that, even with the fake one I manipulated into life behind his back?
Now’s my chance. Really, it’s been decided since he first got sick. Practically since he sat silent on the train for hours. But his absence from the contest isn’t the plot twist. The plot twist is that he was the one who trained, but I was the one who had to compete. And I lost. That’s the moral of this story: life isn’t fair.
I cross my arms and step away from the box, clearly indicating it’s hers. She lunges for it and a siren goes off.
