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\'\'There must be something really special about the pods.\'

Vik couldn\'t help but have this thought after running through the entire turn of events in his head. He had a feeling that there was something more to the incident that wasn\'t visible to them.

"Wait, Tory. On second thought, let\'s go see if there\'s any news about the incident we created."

Vik stopped Tory from getting inside the pod. He had an inkling that the pods themselves might be rigged or have geo-tags of their own that might get activated if they made use of them.

Vik\'s entire life up to this point had been filled with struggle. He had started hustling very early. From sneaky wallet swapping to making and delivering contraband. He had been taught this way of living by the streets.

He was beaten to a pulp for his acts. He had spent a few months in jail. Yes, jail time with Tory wasn\'t his first time in jail, nor was it his last. But all those experiences culminated in Vik having an extra sense when it came to foreseeing traps in front of him.

Vik\'s predictions had saved the duo countless times by now. Even the jail time they had received was Vik diverting the cops\' attention from the major crime they had pulled off and only making them see the petty offenses.

So when Vik raised his doubts regarding the pods, Tory listened without complaining.

"But you said not to reach out to our known contacts."

Tory said while raising his eyebrows. How were they supposed to get news about their actions without having to reach out to their contacts?

"We\'ll get the news. But not using the comms. We\'ll enter Oasis Online."

Tory was baffled by Vik\'s answer. Exasperated, he pointed at the pods before commenting.

"Even more reason for us to enter the pods then."

Vik shook his head in denial before saying slowly.

"Not these pods, musclehead. We need to find different ones to log into Mesis."

***

Vik had always been a cynic. He had lived in several city-states by now. And had seen life\'s ugly face from a very young age.

Living in the city-states was a dream come true for many inexperienced members of the various gypsy clans living on the wild plains. But not him. Because he had experienced life from both sides.

A gypsy clan was made of people with a wide range of backgrounds. They were united under the banner of a clan leader who would choose and decide everything about the clan and its members.

There were several such gypsy clans active all over the world with their own rules and customs. Some were super strong with a massive member count behind them. And some were living off scraps, truly living the life of gypsies.

But there was one thing common among them. They all hated staying inside the city-states and getting ruled over by the private companies in charge of those city-states.

Vik was a part of one such low-level gypsy clan from his childhood. That\'s because his parents were from the same clan. But after the forced separation from his parents, he didn\'t feel like staying in his gypsy clan any longer was worth it. He left what was already alien to him only to find places even more alienated than the last.

With new places and new people, he learned new things. His focus was on survival. So he only sharpened those skills which he needed to keep on surviving.

But all that changed when he met Fernando Torres. For the first time since he left his clan, he stopped acting like a gypsy. In Tory, he found his brother. In Tory, he found a place to return to.

After a long time since his parents were taken from him, Vik felt like he was living when he was with Tory. The guy\'s extended family had also welcomed Vik with open arms. They each had their struggles to deal with. They were all surviving in this tough time. But that didn\'t stop them from treating Vik like a family.

Vik intended to return the favor done to him. He wanted Tory to succeed in life. That\'s why they took on this big job at relatively low risk to score well and launch a legit business. At least that\'s what they thought and saw when this job was first pitched to them by their fixer Jim Belos, AKA, the baldy.

But saying that things didn\'t go as per Vik\'s plan was an understatement. If someone knew they were behind the whole incident, then getting locked up for life was the least of their worries.

Thanks to Vik\'s backup plans after backup plans, the duo had managed to get out of the mess for the time being. But Vik still thought that there was something that he wasn\'t able to see clearly behind their botched-up operation.

That\'s why, after seeing these specialized pods, Vik\'s OCD brain started craving some information. The gears inside his head started churning speedily and they screamed in unison that he shouldn\'t limit his views with the limited information he had right now.

This was the reason Vik wanted to enter Oasis Online, to gather information using avatars they hadn\'t used before. But not by using the pods they currently had at their disposal.

The duo found an old four-wheeler Teslah in the underground garage. In this age, traditional cars were still used. They had modern spectral interfaces and auto-pilot modes among other must-have features.

Plus, they ran on solar energy. Still, Metas and non-Metas would rarely use those. After all, the gyro vehicles were more affordable than the traditional ones.

So the traditional cars were merely showpieces, yet easily disposable. The original owner must have thought the car was better left here than take it into the city-state and pay extra tax on it.

It was already late evening before Vik and Tory could find a pod cafe. They booked their respective pods for the night and had some light dinner afterward.

Their tummies needed to be full for the whole 8 hours or so of Oasis Online\'s login in real-time. Otherwise, the pod cafes would charge them extra for nutritional fluid. That is if something goes wrong and their body starts showing erratic vital signs.

Vik and Tory were already running low on money. Not using nutritional fluids when entering the pod was something most people frowned upon these days. But the duo didn\'t have the luxury of avoiding scornful glances that came their way after declaring their intentions.

Everything was set. Vik and Tory went inside their respective pods. They opened a private audio channel between them before logging into Oasis Online.

"Catch you on the other side, Vik. Don\'t get lost this time!"

Tory\'s voice cackled in Vik\'s mind as their neural systems were getting in sync with Oasis Online.

"Don\'t lose the last brain cell you have on coming up with taunts, Tory. Meet you at our usual place. Over and out."

Saying what they had to say, Vik and Tory entered Oasis Online.