"Can you help our son, Dr. Siegfried? You''re a world-renowned VR psychologist."


    "What seems to be his problem, Mrs. Jacobson?"


    "His mind''s stuck in the metaverse; he can''t seem to tell the difference between reality and fiction."


    "You know, Mrs. Jacobson, this is an epidemic that I''ve been warning about all along. While a child grows, their critical neural pathways form. So I''ve advocated that we should only make The Chip neural implants available to older teenagers or adults."


    "But why can''t he tell the real from the unreal?"


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Let me ask you this, Mrs. Jacobson. Did you ride or walk here?"


    "I rode. I always take my self-driving hovercraft with me. No offense, Doctor, but there are some ''dangerous neighborhoods'' on the route to your office."


    "No offense taken." The doctor chuckled.


    "What''s so funny, Doctor?"


    "Oh, it''s nothing. So Mrs. Jacobson, for how long have you been riding a hovercraft?"


    "Ever since I was a little girl. How''s that relevant?"


    "Does it feel natural? Almost more natural than walking through those ''dangerous neighborhoods?''"


    "Yes. My parents taught me early on that I should use a hovercraft to stay safe."


    "That''s my point. We embrace technology as if it were a part of our identity. So I predict that your son will rely on the metaverse to navigate his environment, even if only for augmentation. For him, it feels natural, and it''ll be his coping mechanism for all those ''dangerous neighborhoods'' that he''ll encounter in the real world."