NO-CLIPSE

Author Note: I wrote this back when I was 9 and rewrote it at 12. What the hell was I on???

“Nova wake up!” her mother exclaimed while shaking her, “you're going to be home alone for the rest of the week, but do your chores before you play. I'm going to be late so see you soon Nova!” as she hurries out of the room while slamming the door behind her, into the early morning fog.

“Goodbye mum,” groaned Nova.

“Don't forget, Aunt Cassie will be here in ten minutes, she will take care of you!” she yelled outside the door.

By now, she was wide awake, and she started to think that she might as well play on her Virtual Reality headset. She then sat up, stretched, yawned and dragged herself out of bed. Rubbing her eyes, Nova sluggishly waddled to her desk, towards her prized possession: her VR headset. She then put it on, only for it to not have any signal. Nova took the headset off as soon as the doorbell rung. Rushing towards the door, sighing as she opened it.

There stood her Aunt Cassie as bold as brass. With a hand on her hip and her leopard jacket slung over her shoulder, she pushed Nova aside as she marched into the middle of the room. She greeted Aunt Cassie, only to get rudely interrupted.

“Hello Aunt Ca-” stuttered Nova.

“Don't talk to me!” retorted her aunt, “I'm not in the mood. Go to your room and do whatever it is you want to do. I couldn't care less.” She then turns around, pouts her glossy, vibrant red lips and stomps across the wooden floor, in her kitten heels, waving her hand dismissively into the air.

Nova then hurried back to her room and slammed the door shut. Heaving a sigh of relief, she picked up her VR headset, which still had no signal.

The words ‘NO SIGNAL’ could be read in all directions Nova faced. This was followed by static audio, bugs and glitches all around her. Great... was the only coherent word grumbled by Nova herself.

After 15 long minutes passed by, the game finally loaded. However, the music was distorted and faded away. Nova, as stubborn as she could be in this situation, still managed to choose her typical online persona named Eclipse. Eclipse was... just a figment of Nova's imagination. Except those fragmented parts of her "personality" was all an act, just like how Nova created this Virtual Reality space for herself.

"W-welcome back, E-Eclipse..." boomed a familiar voice, "This place is under lockdown. You must solve all the puzzles and find the key to save this place. You must solve it before before time runs out. Or else you'll never be able to escape unless someone comes to save you."