Ms Amelie placed a card against the handle of the door and a small light turned green. She turned the handle and pushed the door open, gesturing for Cecil and Yaeh to follow her.


    “The door automatically locks when closed. You can open it with your thumbprint on the handle, or with one of these keycards. If you’d like to give a keycard to one of your neighbours let me know and I can provide you with extra copies.” The teacher explained as she led her students into the apartment.


    Cecil and Yaeh looked around the large living space. By Venus City standards the apartment was enormous. Most Venusians lived in cramped abodes containing enough room for a Plugtank and a small amount of possessions and bare necessities.


    Plugtanks had originally been sold as a space saving solution. Once fully immersed in a Plugtank and connected to it via the wires and tubes which attached to a person’s hardpoints, the tank could sustain almost all of a body''s physical needs.


    Food, water, air, sleep and waste extraction, all provided by one tank, eliminating the need for bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms.


    Humanity on Venus City quickly found themselves dependent on Plugtanks if for no other reason than that they became the only affordable way to live almost overnight.


    Plugtanks hit the market and almost immediately afterwards rent had skyrocketed as the housing barons recategorised the maximum occupancy of their properties.


    The kind of apartment that Yaeh and Cecil found themselves in was a relic of the past.


    A large open living space with a comfortable looking sofa and entertainment console that connected to a spacious and well equipped kitchen area.


    A dining space with an actual table.


    A bathroom with a real bath and shower.


    And lastly a bedroom with spacious storage for clothes and a large bed in the centre, easily big enough for two.


    Cecil followed along with the tour in a stunned stupor. He was mostly familiar with each of the room’s functions. The abode he shared with his parents had all of the same features, just nowhere near as much room.


    He thought about the foldout beds that would slide into the wall to make room for an eating space where they ate sitting on the floor using plastic trays. And their kitchen which doubled as a bathroom with a drain on the floor and waterproof appliances.


    Cecil suspected that his family’s entire home could fit snugly into any one of this apartment’s four large rooms. Except perhaps the bathroom.


    Yaeh walked around the apartment following Ms Amelie, touching the furniture and appliances one by one, inspecting them curiously. She seemed far less shocked by the apartment than Cecil. But that made sense.


    Yaeh would have essentially lived inside her tank since childhood. Her tank would have been stored in a facility with thousands of others. Twice a month the residents would have been woken from their tank to complete necessary physical exercises and occasional medical tests. Then back into the tank they went.


    To Yaeh, the apartment was just another curiosity. Something straight out of retro media. A small abode would be just as much of a novelty as a luxury apartment to someone who had lived their whole life in the realms of virtual reality.


    “Are you listening Cecil?” Ms Amelie asked.


    “Oh, um. Sorry Miss, can you repeat that.” Cecil answered sheepishly. He had been caught thoroughly distracted.


    “I was saying that there is only enough food in the storage for the next three days or so, you will need to make a trip to the superstore at the centre of campus to buy more.”


    “You will be able to use your tablets to pay for anything you need at the shops there. You will all be provided with some credits each week, be careful not to fritter them away.” Ms Amelie instructed.


    “Oh, Ok Miss.” Cecil answered, and Yaeh nodded to indicate that she had also understood.


    “Well that concludes the tour. If you have any other questions please consult the handbook on your tablets. It will explain all the functions of your apartment and also list all of the daily tasks you should complete in order to be healthy and hygienic.”


    “That last part is very important, trust me.” Ms Amelie emphasised. “You won''t be familiar with hygiene as it isn’t necessary in Plugnet. Please, if you only listen to one piece of advice from me; do not neglect your daily hygiene tasks!”


    Cecil nodded. His father sometimes smelled bad after long shifts at the plants so he understood this part.


    Yaeh continued to pay close attention to everything Ms Amelie told them, sometimes pausing to write down notes on her tablet, either for her own memory, or to turn around and show to her teacher to ask a question.


    “Ok, that covers the basics. You two will have the next three days to yourself. Classes resume on Monday. You can find directions to the classroom building and your class schedules on your tablet.” Ms Amelie concluded, heading towards the exit.


    “Wait Miss.” Cecil called after her.


    The teacher stopped in the doorway and turned back. “What is it Cecil?”


    “Um, well... What do we do now?” Cecil asked uncertainly.


    Ms Amelie paused and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, painfully aware of her inability to answer the question satisfactorily.


    “Well. Feel free to explore campus. You have some credits that you can spend if you wish. You could also familiarise yourself with your new apartment. Oh, there are four other apartments on this floor so you could interact with your neighbours. And, well, you could spend some quality time with your partner. Try to use this time to bond, if you like.” Ms Amelie finished halfheartedly.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Yaeh nodded earnestly.


    Cecil nodded awkwardly. The answer wasn’t particularly helpful.


    “Ok kids. I’ll see you on Monday. If you need anything, you can message me on your tablet. Take care of yourselves.” Ms Amelie said as she closed the door behind her.


    Cecil and Yaeh stood in silence on the other side of the closed apartment door, and the threshold of their new lives and home, for a long moment.


    They slowly turned to look at each other, then looked away nervously.


    Cecil wanted to plugin again.


    It was late afternoon and by this time he would normally be plugged into his tank, socialising with friends or playing games.


    He found himself subconsciously looking around the large room several times, as though hoping to find a Plugtank tucked away in a corner of the living space that he had somehow managed to avoid seeing.


    Yaeh found her way to the sofa and sat down wordlessly, looking at her tablet.


    Cecil found an empty glass in a kitchen cabinet and poured a glass of water from the dispenser, then sat down at the dining room table with it. He pulled out his own tablet and began to aimlessly kill time reading through the contents.


    <hr>


    Several painful hours passed.


    Cecil had long since finished his water and had given up on reading his tablet. It lay next to him face up on the table. He was far too restless and anxious to be able to focus on reading the long and dull project handbook.


    He rested his head on the hard table, watching as his breath fogged the wood-like polymer surface.


    The door to the room opened.


    Cecil raised his head slowly to find Yaeh standing sheepishly in the doorway almost hiding behind the door frame. She didn’t say anything.


    “Um. Hi Yaeh. Do you need something?” Cecil asked stiffly.


    Yaeh looked around the empty dining area before hastily entering and pulling out a chair opposite Cecil to sit on.


    Cecil sat up straighter in his own seat.


    Yaeh clutched her tablet to her chest as she sat. Then once seated, slowly and deliberately turned the tablet around to lay it face up onto the table so that Cecil could read.


    “I feel sick.” It read.


    Cecil squinted at the words, taking a moment to process them, then he panicked.


    He rose to his feet awkwardly, stumbling over his chair as he stood.


    Oh god what do I do? He thought to himself. Mind racing. Do we call for someone?


    “Wh-Whats wrong? Do you have a fever? Have you vomited? OH! Ms Amelie said we have some medicine in the kitchen, like for sleeping and for withdrawal and stuff! I’ll see what we have-” He paused half-turned to leave the room, but Yaeh was shaking her head, flustered.


    Her pale face flushed as she quickly scribbled new words onto the tablet.


    “It’s nothing serious, I don’t think so anyway. This is new to me though so I thought I’d ask you for advice.” The words read.


    Yaeh was looking up at Cecil with nervous optimism.


    Cecil took a moment to calm himself then sat back down. “What do you feel and where do you feel it?” He asked, determined to help.


    Yaeh wrote her response. “It’s my abdomen. It feels bad. Sometimes it hurts a little and just before I came in here, it made a noise, like a vibration. That worried me so I thought I’d ask for help.” She placed a hand on her stomach to indicate the area, trying her best to stay calm.


    Cecil read. Then he understood. “Oh thank god.” He exclaimed with relief. “You’re just hungry. C’mon, let’s see what food we have.”


    Cecil rose to his feet and offered a hand to Yaeh who took it after a hesitant pause.


    He led her by the hand to the kitchen area before letting go to search through the food storage unit.


    “That’s the cabinet with the medicine, I think there might be something in there to help you eat.” Cecil said, pointing a finger at the cabinet in question. It was on the ground level next to the food storage unit. Yaeh nodded and bent down to search.


    Cecil found several pouches of liquid in the refrigerated storage unit labelled as “Liquid Diet - Yaeh.” He took one of the pouches, then paused before grabbing a lumpy pouch labelled “Mac and Cheese.” He was a little hungry too.


    He closed the door to the food storage unit and turned to find Yaeh facing him clutching onto a bottle of liquid. She handed it to him so he could read the label. “Diet Transition Supplement - Yaeh.”


    Cecil nodded, then handed back the bottle along with the pouch of liquid food. He consulted his tablet to quickly check that the medicine and the food pouch were correct and which order they were to be consumed in.


    “Ok Yaeh. It says that you’re supposed to drink a small cup of the supplement first. There should be a measuring cup in this cabinet.” He retrieved the marked plastic cup, then walked over to the kitchen island to set down the cup.


    Yaeh hovered near him closely so that she could see what he was reading on his tablet and he turned the device so she could see the screen clearly. She nodded as she read, her side pressing softly against his own.


    She was so close that Cecil could smell the tank fluid in her hair. He realised that he likely smelled the exact same.


    Yaeh finished reading and Cecil twisted the top off the supplement fluid bottle then poured out the correct volume for Yaeh’s first dose. He handed her the small cup of medicine.


    She took it from him with clumsy fingers and inspected the pale grey fluid, then looked up at Cecil uncertainly. Cecil mimed the motion of raising the cup to his mouth and drinking the fluid. Yaeh nodded and furrowed her brow with determination as she lifted the cup and drank the liquid.


    He took the cup from her hand after she had finished swallowing the liquid. “Great job!” Cecil praised and squeezed Yaeh’s shoulder gently in the same way that his mother would to show encouragement. “Next up is the food pouch but you have to wait thirty minutes first Ok?”


    Yaeh nodded and accepted the offered pouch of food which she clutched to her chest resolutely.


    “Luckily that pouch has a straw attached so it should be a lot easier to drink from. Do you know what to do?” He asked.


    Yaeh inspected the pouch then nodded.


    “Great.” He answered, making a one-handed motion in the air to access the Plugnet function menu to set a thirty minute timer.


    He paused, then looked at his hand. Yaeh’s eyes followed, also looking at his hand. Then they looked at each other.


    Cecil swore under his breath while Yaeh smiled smugly.


    “I was wondering which one of us was going to do that first.” The note written on her tablet read as she held it towards him victoriously.


    “Yeah yeah, you will do it too, trust me it’s a hard habit to break. I do this all the time at home when I unplug, and I unplug every day.” Cecil protested, before returning a smile to Yaeh.


    Yaeh made several inputs on her tablet and Cecil thought she was writing a new note, but when she turned it back around it displayed a timer counting down from thirty minutes.


    “Oh, that’s handy. I guess people needed ways to set timers before Plugnet too.” Cecil said appreciatively.


    They stood together quietly for a moment, but Cecil felt that this time the silence was a lot more bearable.


    He decided to rehydrate his mac and cheese meal pouch for something to do.


    Yaeh joined him in the kitchen area, seeming to prefer Cecil’s company than being in the other area by herself.


    She watched him intently as he used the kitchen appliances. Luckily everything he was used to using in his own kitchen at home was present in this kitchen too. He was able to find his way around, even if some appliances were different models.


    Once he had rehydrated and heated his meal he took a plastic fork from the cutlery dispenser and began to eat.


    Yaeh approached timidly and stood closely by him again to sniff at his food. He lowered the pouch towards her so that she could smell it, then ate a forkful of mushy pasta as Yaeh wrote on her tablet.


    “It smells like nothing.”


    Cecil sniffed at the bag himself. He thought he could faintly detect cheese.


    Yaeh wrote more. “I thought physical space would smell more. The food and perfumes in Plugnet smell so amazing and vibrant. So far today, I’ve barely smelled anything, it’s weird.”


    “Oh yeah, Plugnet does something to our brains that affects our physical senses. Smells and tastes especially.”


    Yaeh nodded, looking slightly forlorn.


    “What’s wrong?” Cecil asked.


    “I want to plug back in more than I thought I would. I thought it would take at least a few days before I missed it. But I miss it all the time, really badly. I’ve always wanted to unplug, so I thought this project could be an amazing opportunity. But I think it’s going to be really difficult, isn’t it?” Yaeh wrote.


    Once Cecil finished reading Yaeh lowered the tablet defeatedly.


    Cecil didn’t know what to say. Even if he did, he wouldn''t know how to say it. He wanted to tell her that he felt the exact same way. That he had the exact same fears.


    But he couldn’t.


    So he hugged her softly instead.


    Yaeh stiffened at first, then after a moment, she leaned into the embrace, raising a hand to Cecil’s chest to softly grip the fabric of his jumpsuit.


    Cecil’s mother would always hug him like this when he felt anxious or scared, and for some reason, he always felt better.


    Cecil hoped to do the same for Yaeh.