Xavier was trending in the universal network, and Lucas and Ethan were trending too, but for a different reason.
Xavier was still reeling from his first VR experience.
His body ached in strange places—not painful, just unfamiliar. The kind of exhaustion that came from moving too much after never moving at all. Jumping, running, fighting… It had only been a few hours in-game, but in real life, it felt like he'd sprinted through several marathons. The VR pod was good, smooth, almost seamless, but even with the best tech, his muscles still remembered their real limitations.
He peeled the pod suit off and headed for the shower. The water was hot. Too hot. But he didn't lower the temperature. He let it scald his skin while steam fogged the mirror. His mind was still playing the raid back on loop—the boss fight, the crowd, the trend feeds, Lucas's face when he got banned. He let out a chuckle.
