Round a Globe
“Pick your location,” my Rennie (my Parent, if you want to be formal about it, but most don't out here) told me, waving their hand at a row of what looked like snow globes, each on a black stand with a label. “Then we'll slot it into the VR machine and we can get this party started!”
To be honest, the answer was that none of them looked like somewhere I wanted to be. I would rather be clipped snugly in my bed, reading something or chatting with my friends on the other orbital habitats (probably both, given the chat-delays involved). Rennie had made it very clear, however, that they thought I spent too much time doing that.
I reached out and picked up the nearest snowglobe. The label read 'Western Ghost Town'. “This one, I guess.”
Rennie beamed. “Great choice, kiddo!” They slid the globe into the machine, and pulled down a harness of each of us.
When we were fully attached and the virtual reality took over, I found myself in a brown and dusty street.
“Isn't this fun,” Rennie insisted, like I was still eight or something. “Where shall we start....”
I shrugged. “Wherever.” If my parent wanted to drag me through this, they could put up with making the decisions. I was well occupied enough thinking about how I'd tell this to my friends.
