THE MOMENT
"No way!" The buff icon appeared in the top left corner of his vision, and Drew opened his eyes wider. He sat up and immediately tried a regeneration buff only to see it take effect as well. As he processed the information, a nurse had heard him awake. She walked in to see him glowing with several auras, but he dismissed them when she entered the room.
"Glad to see your finally awake," she smiled at him as she reached the side of his bed.
"Where are my parents?" that was the most important question. They'd gone to great lengths to pull him out of the game, and now they weren't there when he woke up. Then, he had another realization. Had they waited too long?
"How long was I out?" he asked. He started testing his abilities as soon as he was conscious, so he didn't know if that was why he felt so well. He'd spent years in the game, and unconscious in a soil bed. The nanos that connected him to the AlterNet were supposed to keep him healthy. However, he had no idea how long ago he'd been disconnected and brought to the hospital. It certainly looked like a vastly different hospital than the one he remembered before the game. But, the nurse's uniform had a nametag that said, 'Fennville Hospital' along with her name, 'Miranda'.
"They're on the way," she reassured him. "You weren't out very long at all," she smiled. "You just got here; a bit ahead of them."
"Oh," he nodded, and at the moment the door opened again. Both parents rushed in to hug him. He remembered the warmth and the smell of holding them, and he let himself tear up a bit. "I thought I'd never get to hold you guys like that again!" he grinned. His mother, an austere, lean woman with silver hair, seemed to get even more emotional at that. She was overjoyed at seeing him again.
"So, what'd I miss?" he asked finally. The hug dragged on longer than even he expected, and both his parents were unexpectedly quiet. But, he imagined there was so much to say that it was hard to know where to start.
It wasn't like they hadn't kept in touch. He could still communicate with email and text from within the game. When he first logged in, everything was so real and immersive it felt like a whole new life entirely. One that he designed himself. Thanks to that, and the ability to communicate to the outside world, he began spending more and more time logged in to the AlterNet. Then, everything changed one day when he couldn't log out. He'd spent almost three months in the game, trusting the nanos to deliver nutrients to his body and suddenly the option was no longer available.
His parents didn't even get mad. They were happy to hear from him at all, and everyone went about their lives as if things were normal. Drew met someone and had a family, and he shared it all with his parents by sending them photos of their 'digital grandchildren'. Then, his parents said there might be a way to get him out, and they started coordinating a rescue. Drew had kept his awareness of the game and he enjoyed his wife's company, but he never let himself get attached. He repeated it all the time whenever talking to his parents, and even when showing off the kids, he was adamant they were only NPCs. The decision to leave was never in question.
"Well...," his dad sighed as his mom squeezed Drew's hand. "...we know what happened, and how," he said. The older man looked into his son's eyes with tears forming. "... you died, son."
"What?" Drew didn't know how to make sense of that.
"It's called 'Blooming'. Unfortunately, the back alley AlterNet connection you got didn't give you all the necessary warnings. But, Sharp Development showed up on this Earth with the real AlterNet, and that's how we set this up."
"What?" Drew shook his head again. He understood the general idea, but he was still confused. "I died, and I came back?"
"'Blooming' is a way to permanently live in the AlterNet," his dad started the explanation. "The nanos that are supposed to keep you alive continue improving the process until basically they give you a root system. Then, a redwood sapling starts growing in you, and out of you, capturing your soul and taking over as your body. We didn't know how to tell you there was a sapling coming out of your chest."
"I was a tree??" it was concerning in and of itself, but there were deeper implications. "How did I come back from being a tree??" As he asked the question, he felt his mom squeeze his hand tighter, and warm tears landed on his fingers.
"You don't come back from that, son," his dad shook his head.
"I was rescued... wasn't I?" he asked. His dad gave another subtle shake.
"Not in the way you might think. Your 'rescue' is just us getting a chance to reunite," he gestured at the hospital around them. "We're in the AlterNet right now. We were making our characters when you woke up," he added.
"So.... my body's dead, or I guess a tree. I'm still 'trapped' in the AlterNet, then?" he asked.
"Your spirit is alive," his dad nodded. "This will be much better than just texts and emails."
"Yeah...," Drew nodded. He was happy, but also not. "But now I have to go through getting a divorce instead of just leaving."