He walked to the corner. Pulled a heavy duffel bag from under some dirty tarps. ZIIIP. He unzipped it. The sleek, metallic curves of his VR helmet caught the dim light.
"Right now, my real-world sync is stuck at 5 percent," Sebastian said. "I can punch through a car engine. But if I cast an anti-air shield here? My brain will melt. Just leak right out of my ears."
"Then how do we stop the missiles?" Valerie asked. Her knuckles turned white gripping her silver-plated magnum.
"We don't," Sebastian said simply. "The system does."
He pulled the VR helmet out and tossed a second spare headset from the bag over to Valerie. She caught it awkwardly against her chest and looked down at the device as if it were a live grenade.
"If we claim land in the game and build a Sanctuary, the System links it," he explained. "It makes this physical warehouse an extension of that safe zone."
Valerie blinked. Her sharp mind slowly pieced together the crazy logic.
