Tanya found herself face-to-face with two strangers from her spot in the centre of the doorway.

The room was dim and cramped. A low sofa divided the space unevenly, and tangled cables trailed across the floor, unplugged from the stacked PCs and cast aside.

Marjorie was sitting on the sofa; perfectly normal looking aside from her hair. It erupted from her head in the kind of ginger curls that either fell out of a hair commercial or a BBC period drama. They were fanned out across the back of the sofa where she leaned. Even with the knots and lack of layers, Tanya couldn't help but glance back at it over and over. Her features cut sharply across her face, with just enough wrinkles around her deep blue eyes to show her age and how concerned she was. She was older than Ishita, and her son's age showed that too.

Adam had looked up, but his eyes hadn't seen her. They were a crystalline blue, everything down to the pupil. It glowed slightly. The room was dim, and Tanya stepped in, looking closer. Each of his hands was on a side of some sort of box.

Adam's eyes stayed wide and still, the irises unnaturally pale under the computer light. The tower beneath his hands sat in the centre of the coffee table, faintly vibrating. A strip of internal LEDs pulsed under a black vented panel.

There were a lot of boxes she now noticed. A faint whirring noise filled the air from within one of the boxes—

Holy shit, they're computers.

They were everywhere — stacked at Adam's feet, piled on the side table by the window, and another resting on the closed fireplace behind the TV. The one under Adam's hands whirred louder, a mechanical heartbeat filling the room.

Neither Marjorie nor Adam had looked up.

Tanya caught Ishita's eye. Ishita's face gave nothing away.

What do I do?

"H-hi?" Tanya ventured.

"M-mum?" Adam asked, suddenly panicked. He looked around wildly, but Tanya doubted he could see.

Marjorie laid a hand on his shoulder, her fake nails the same blue as her eyes but grown out, like she'd meant to get them replaced a couple of weeks ago. "Keep going." She turned to Tanya and Ishita and held the other finger to her lips. It was insistent but not at all angry. Her other hand stayed on Adam's shoulder, thumb moving from side to side as if reminding him she was still there.

It took her a minute to remember where she even remembered the names and their faces from; a photograph on Ishita's side table next to the sofa arm where Adam sat. They were Ishita's friends—a single mother and his son. She remembered her Class was Gravity Brawler, and his was computer-related. She racked her brain for more information but came up empty.

Tanya looked at Ishita again, more insistently this time. She shrugged her shoulders, looking around.

Ishita held up a finger, walking around Tanya to an armchair off to the side. She stepped behind it and motioned for Tanya to sit. Tanya sat without a word

What the fuck is going on in here?

All Tanya could do was watch.

The armchair sat low, pressing her knees upward and making the coffee table feel far too close. From this angle, she could see Adam better.

He was mid mid-teen with the same hair colour as his mother. His hair was more frizzy, like it had been brushed straight but was rebelling. Bushy ginger eyebrows were knitted together above his eyes. His hoodie was open, showing the collar of a tshirt and the veins down his neck. Each one was visible like they were lit up from inside.

"Muuum," came from the other room. Tanya would recognise Fahad's voice anywhere.

Ishita held up a finger again and slipped out through the door.

A thunk brought Tanya's attention back to the coffee table.

Adam clamped down harder on the PC. It had some unknown brand name on the side—something prebuilt that Tanya had never heard the name of before. The fan spun with the vigour of an old PC on a hot day. He groaned, tensing his hands tighter and leaning in further forward. Tanya couldn't help but mirror him.

It was over as soon as it started. There was a quiet pop. Adam jerked back from the PC, hands rubbing his eyes like he was trying to wake up. A small stream of smoke leaked out of the grid of the PC, and the fan slowed, then stopped.

"Do you want some water? I could go get you some. Or salt, maybe—you could probably do with some electrolytes," Marjorie said. She placed the back of her hand on his forehead.

He ducked away, groaning. "Mum, I'm fine."

Both their eyes landed on Tanya, and she became very aware of her posture. She'd leant forward as much as she could to watch, but now leant back sheepishly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Tanya started, gesturing to the scenario.

"I couldn't look away either when I first saw Adam's Class," Marjorie said, with a twinkle in her eye. She looked over him with pride. "A unique class, eh? Our Adam's always been unique." Marjorie reached out, smoothing Adam's hoodie over his shoulder.

Adam shrank further and further down the sofa the longer she spoke, clearly mortified. "Muum," he complained.

Tanya may have been in her twenties now, but even just looking at Adam's cringe snapped her back to the horror of her mum bragging at family gatherings.

Tanya caught a flicker behind Marjorie's teasing smile—a tiredness, maybe even a hint of worry—and something about it made Tanya's own irritation soften, if only a little.

"It's a mother's job to be proud," Marjorie replied, but Tanya could hear she was teasing.

"Cool PC stuff, huh?" Tanya said, trying to save him.

He shrugged with one shoulder.

Marjorie cleared her throat, prompting him.

"Uh, yeah," he said. "I look at PC stuff."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Marjorie rolled her eyes and gave Tanya a look that said teens, eh? "He's underselling himself. This young man here not only coded a web-ma-thingy to let people see all the monsters, but he even got a Class for it!" She clapped her hands together.

Adam winced. "It's called crowd sourcing."

"Oh, yeah?" Tanya said, casually.

He let out a breath and continued. "People could report portals an' monsters an' then it showed it on a map to help people stay safe." He slouched back in his seat, shuffling his hoodie sleeves further down his hands. "Only lasted a few days, though."

"It won a few awards before the electricity went down, and saved countless lives," Marjorie added.

In that moment, Tanya was sure that Marjoire knew all about the website and how it worked; it was all a ploy to get Adam talking.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't like I was trying to save the world or anything," Adam muttered, eyes darting away. "Just figured someone had to do it before things got totally bonkers."

Marjorie put an arm around him, grinning at him wiggling away. "He's always been into computers, my Adam."

Tanya's small smile only lasted a second before being replaced with a frown yet again.

That's when it clicked. It had taken Tanya a while to work Marjorie out. She'd weirded her out at first, and Tanya empathised with Adam's embarrassment, but Tanya got it now. She was acting like she did before; some small act of rebellion against all the change. Adam would never admit he liked it, but she bet his mother's act was almost entirely for his benefit.

"You missing games?" Tanya asked.

That seemed to open the floodgates. "Boy, am I," Adam groaned. "You game?" he added suspiciously.

Tanya recognised that look, the 'but you're an adult' look.

She raised an eyebrow at him and shuffled the armchair closer, rolling up her sleeve. Tanya only had a couple of gaming-themed tattoos: a Triforce on the opposite shoulder to her full sleeve, and a Pac-Man on her left heel. The Zelda one was easier, so she went for that one.

He nodded, impressed. "Good choice. I'd get a Piranha Plant if Mum ever let me." He looked over to her, ready to complain.

"We can talk about it," Marjorie said, measured.

He sat up straight. "Woah, really? But you said I had to wait until I'm 18?"

Marjorie made eye contact with Tanya, looking away quickly.

Ah, right. She knows I can make magic ones.

"You'll just have to prove you're mature enough if you want her to consider it," Tanya slipped in.

Adam nodded, furrowing his brows with fervour. "I can do that."

Marjorie flashed Tanya a thankful look over his head.

Ishita walked back in looking frazzled. "Sorry for the delay." She walked over to the kitchen.

"He still wants to join?" Marjorie asked, craning her neck to look at Ishita behind her.

Ishita sighed. "Insists is more like it."

"So, what is going on?" Tanya asked, a bit blunter than she intended.

Ishita picked up a mug and then put it down again, walking towards the door and picking up the door keys. "Should I go to the parlour and make tea? This feels like a tea conversation—"

"Sit. We don't need tea," Marjorie insisted. She shuffled up on the sofa, and Ishita sat beside her.

With the three opposite her, this was starting to feel awfully like an interview.

Adam scuffed the tip of his shoe across the wood planks, looking down.

"Adam?" Marjorie asked. Her voice was soft, no longer putting on the act. "I think you explain this better than us."

Adam seemed to have seen it coming. He didn't look up. "Yeah, uh, my Class is called Netmancer."

Tanya let out a long breath. This wasn't the time, but that sounded awesome.

"The website I made gave me a Class," Adam continued, glancing up more and more. "I can still access it—an' other stuff sometimes—it's kinda still like crowdsourcing."

"Would it be easier to show her?" Marjorie asked.

"Yeah, could do."

Tanya snapped out of her haze. She'd been deep in thought, listening to him and picturing what this site was like. "What?"

All three of them were looking at her now.

"How high is your Concentration at the moment?" Ishita asked, lifting the PC off the fireplace.

"It can be a bit disorienting," Marjorie added, clearing the current PC and some coasters off the coffee table..

Adam dusted the top with his sleeve. "Mum puked the first time."

"Adam!" Marjorie called, her cheeks flushing.

"What?" Adam said, hiding his grin.

Tanya didn't have the mental space to enjoy his revenge for his mother's embarrassment because the table was already moving.

Ishita pushed the table closer to Tanya until it was touching her chin. Suddenly, Tanya was staring down at an Acer brick of a PC, and Adam was shuffling towards her on his knees.

Tanya laughed nervously, leaning back into the chair. "So, uh, what puke-inducing thing are you putting me through again?"

Adam held the PC, one hand on each side. "It's kinda just like using a PC…" he started.

Tanya blinked. "But there are no wires or monitor?"

Adam looked relieved by her addition. "Yeah, exactly."

Tanya could feel her eyes bulging.

That is not helpful.

"If you place your hands on top of the PC here and here," Adam said.

Tanya's fingers hovered over the device for a heartbeat.

What if this fries my brain? I already feel like I'm going to puke.

She swallowed hard, the room suddenly feeling too quiet.

They're both fine. They wouldn't hurt me.

Steeling herself, she placed her hands on top of the PC.

Nothing immediately happened. She laughed nervously. "So, is it like VR then?"

"What's VR?" Ishita asked.

Tanya's fingers lingered on the edges of the PC, her heart quickening. The hum from the machine grew louder, filling her ears. A sudden pulse of light burst from the device—

"Sorry, never tried it," Adam said.

That's the last thing Tanya heard before the computer pulled her in.

Her balance tipped for a moment. Sound dropped away. Every sense dulled beneath a pressure that didn't belong. Then the light hit.

Tanya blinked over and over again.

She could see so many single LEDS, like sitting too close to the old boxy television she watched cartoons on as a kid.

Every section of white was so many colours mixing together, and they were all utterly blinding.

Tanya staggered forward. Her body hit the coffee table in front of her. She could feel the hard wood hit her stomach. The sensation of the squishy carpet under her knees was there, but only when she concentrated on it. It really was like VR, but all of her sensations were so much further away; no heavy box on her head or the sound of her footsteps or even the sound of her own breath.

She begged her eyes to adjust.

What is this place?

Bit by bit, Tanya started to see.

The screen before her was warped as if through a massive fish-eye lens that she could only see on the end. It was larger than any cinema screen she'd ever experienced. Front and centre was a map. She craned her neck left and right to try and reposition her vision to see it better, but she was just moving in the real world.

Words appeared in front of her, and she jumped. They were far closer than the map, appearing letter by letter, similarly to the Interface.

Hi Tanya, can you see this?

The System?

I can't hear you right now, but I'm going to assume you're more used to it now. This is the bit that made my mum sick, so brace yourself.

Oh, Adam.

The map surged forward. Buildings stretched and collapsed in flashes. Streets whipped past too fast to follow. The world didn't move so much as collapse inward. It was like something from Star Trek, named some jargon like a 'singularity' or a 'wormhole'.

Nausea settled in Tanya's stomach. She suppressed it.

So this is where we are.

The world spun around her. Tanya tried to focus her eyes through what felt like new glasses lenses.

Whitechapel was in the centre, with Tanya and the others marked slightly to the north-west. The map was zoomed out enough that she could see Islington in the top left corner and Victoria Park in the top right.

The map was dotted with all sorts of colours, but her eyes were most drawn to four that were purple and larger than the rest. One of them was a few minutes walk from Whitechapel station, another was to the right of the Gherkin, another inside the Tower of London, and a final one in Shadwell. They were this perfect frame of her borough.

The map zoomed in further, and Tanya clamped her eyes shut for a second, trying to skip the disorientation. The four purple dots were circular, as were a lot of the shapes she'd initially seen. A bunch of them were crosses, also in a variety of colours. She realised some dots were actually exclamation marks, and these four purple ones all had one next to them. It didn't seem linked to size, nor colour.

So that is where we are. All of these circles are portals, and the x's are monsters. The colours align with the classification of the portal or monster. I don't wanna bore you with the details, especially when you probably feel so sick, so…

The words stopped for a moment.

These big purple portals are rare. I've only seen two near our area.

One spawned a Boss. The other took it away again.

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