Picking himself up off the ground, Chester looked around the green field around him. Just a few yards away he spotted Alexander doing very much the same. In one deft movement, he smacked Gerald on the shoulder and pointed toward the young man. "Oh hey, it's that kid from the waiting room. I guess we didn't die."

Gerald replied with a roll of his eyes, "Of course we didn't die, moron. We're in the virtual reality. Let's go see how the he's holding up." He began shoving Ches toward Alexander. Once they arrived within earshot, he called out "Hey there! This is pretty neat, huh? Glad to see you're here in one piece."

A groan sounded from behind them, and Chester wheeled around to see Noel standing nearby, seemingly arriving out of nowhere. He did have to admit that people suddenly appearing in this world was a bit on the creepy side. What happened if two people came in at the same point? Did the programmers consider that scenario? He didn't want to think about that possibility. "Alright, nearly everyone is here!" he exclaimed and flashed one of his juvenile smiles that made his boyish face look even more like that of a teenager.

Noel was gazing at the decrepit house upon the hill and seemed intent on exploring it. Chester wasn't exactly paying complete attention to her actual words, but he was pretty sure she said the word "haunted." Haunted was never good. 

"Haunted mansion?" Gerald repeated these words and confirmed what Ches was dreading, "Sweet. That sounds like the best idea! I'm totally down. Let's do it!" 

Chester did not look half as enthusiastic as Noel and Gerald. "[i]Haunted[/i]?" he repeated nervously, "Oh jeez. Of course." Gerald had already started walking toward the house, and Chester trailed along reluctantly, making childish attempts to block his path, all the while voicing his complaints and protests. "What happened to the paradise we were promised, Jer? I don't see any diamond-sand beaches, palm trees made of money, Tiki bars with cherry soda on tap, or attractive girls serving smoothies. I think we were lied to. I knew this was a bad idea, I knew it from the beginning."

Gerald continued forward, despite the attempts to inhibit his progress. "Oh, shut up, Ches. You were the one who was all Gung-ho about this. This is what you get for free." He paused and looked back at his concerned companion, a wry smile parting his lips, "Hey, maybe all that stuff is just inside. You know, I think that's it. I can practically hear the cherry soda flowing, man. Don't want to keep those smoothie waitresses waiting." At this point, Gerald had already trudged up the hill and stood next to the crooked door of the crumbling edifice. He held his hands out, palms up, to the door handle, inviting Chester to open it. 

Chester didn't take the bait and stood helplessly at the foot of the hill. "They're called WAITresses for a reason!" he yelled up at his friend defiantly, thinking that was a damn good pun.

Suddenly, a voice as large as the sky itself sounded from somewhere overhead, "We fixed all the bugs, right? Wait, what? Why didn't you fix th- Oh, wait what? Uh...is this thing on? Oh, it's working? Ah! Okay..." 

Gerald recognized the voice at once. It was the man who had greeted them when they had first arrived -- his "guardian angel." Somehow, the man's disembodied voice booming from overhead, seemingly from everywhere and yet nowhere all at once, was anything but angelic. It was a bit imposing, to say the least. Gerald was instantly reminded of the gerbil that he had when he was 8, and how terrified it must have been to be cooped up in a small cardboard shoebox, a giant, misbehaving boy looming above, poking and prodding it curiously. 

"So, welcome to your first virtual world!" The voice continued, sounding a bit frazzled like he had a rehearsed speech but lost the script. "As you may have noticed, you are completely immersed. You will experience all five senses perfectly -- that's part of our proprietary secret software! You may want to be a bit careful as you can feel pain...but the good thing is that you cannot die in this world. If something happens here that would kill you in the real world, you will just be transported back where you started. Feel free to explore as much as you like and do what you wish. It's, uh, your prize after all." There was a small clicking sound, as if a microphone was being shut off, then it quickly clicked on again "Oh! I also wanted to let you know that you will all be able to hear each others' speech no matter where you are in the virtual world. So you don't have to worry about keeping within earshot. Just open your mouth and everyone will hear." The voice paused, then continued awkwardly, as if he just thought up a wonderful joke for the occasion, "so...er...no making fun of others behind their backs, aiigt?" There was another click of the microphone, and the sky became silent once more. 

"See Ches, it'll be fine." Gerald yelled down the embankment, "You can't die. What's the worst that can happen? Get your ass up here, you friggin' baby." he glanced at Alexander and Noel. "Don't you think he's being a major baby right now?"

That was it. He wasn't going to look like a coward in front of the others. He was older than they were. He had to be the hero...or something. He just had to keep telling himself that. Heaving a sigh, he forced his reluctant feet up the hill and met Gerald at the entrance. Gerald eyed him with that same shit-eating grin on this face as Chester slowly extended his hand to the doorknob. It was surprisingly cold and surprisingly [i]real[/i], Ches noted. Another sigh, this time one of mostly exasperation, and he thrust the door inward with a long [i]creeeeaaak[/i]. The stereotypical haunted house creaky door. Figures.

A blast of cold air washed over them and caused the hairs on the back of their necks to raise. Directly inside was what was probably the foyer at one time. A dilapidated chandelier swung idly from the dirty tiled ceiling. Ches imagined how lavish it might have looked at one time, dripping with crystals that twinkled in the glow of its candles, but now the crystals were milky from age and dust and cobwebs matted what was left of the candles. All the furniture inside this room was knocked over and disheveled. That was one thing that was always unnerving about old houses. Why did the furniture always look like it had been flung around by a gorilla? Nobody was there to manhandle it. Or so they hoped. A swirl of dust, raised from the sudden movement of the door, made the light filtering through the boarded-up windows murky, but thankfully that seemed to be the only thing moving inside. For now anyway. 

"Well, I guess this isn't too bad." Ches murmured and inched inside.

"Yeah, what a place, eh? Don't worry, the cherry soda is probably near."