Free Empty Streets by Jessica Cotter

actually…link…," Eri trailed off, realizing her knowledge of how the software communicated in the Sims world was wildly limited. "Well, whatev. I'll stay away from your sister." Eri looked down, feeling shame burn on her cheeks.
    "Hey, man, I get it. Remember what you and I talked about the other day…how it's like ain't no one watchin' what we doin' or give a shit about us? Or how nothin' feels real to us, so we gotta push our physical experiences more and more in here? I feel that, man, I been thinkin' on it. If you still wanna be done with it all and take that other drug I told you about, lemme know. I'll do it, too." Seb's voice trailed off, and his expression softened in thought. Eri could read pain in his face; loneliness and uncertainty. "T said he could get us whatever we want." Seb looked down and walked away, careful not to make eye contact.
    Eri felt cold all over. What was happening? What was her brother doing? Who was T? She had heard of people doing Sims drugs, which tricked the brain into feeling high. She had read that they were just as addicting as real drugs and had avoided them. Some of that stuff could make the body feel like it had experienced several seizures. The result was a lack of appetite and sleeping for days on end. She couldn't make sense of the Sims sex though…she knew of it and had, at sixteen, gained access to legal Sims sex, but had not been very interested in accessing the software. She wondered what it meant, that Ezra was accessing and abusing the software illegally. He was still under age. Perhaps he was trying to not be lonely. Maybe he thought the physical act of sex would make him feel human connection. Which, if that was the case, it made a lot of sense that he would feel depressed and isolated. Everyone knew the point of Sims sex was to avoid human connection.
    Deep in thought, leaning against a rock, Eri heard the hum of a faint beep in the distance. She looked up and, realizing what it was, threw her hands up to jerk off the goggles on her face before the machine could do a retinal scan. The Sims machine automatically went into sleep mode.
    Eri climbed out of Ezra's Sims machine and crept up the stairs. In the living room, her parents sat watching TV. Her dad dozed, while her mom's glazed eyes did not seem particularly focused on the TV.
    "We have a thing at work. Tomorrow night," Eri's mom said absently.
    "Um, what?" Eri looked at her, confused.
    "An interpersonal event for all the grownups. We were even shipped nice clothes from the Company." Eri's mom smiled at her dad, even though he slept.
    "Oh, so…like a grownup date?" Eri remembered her parents doing this from time to time. Because there were so few places to safely travel for social events, the factories periodically held small dinners to allow the workers time to talk and visit. Eri thought this seemed awkward, this adult play date, but since they all perceived the outside world to be so dangerous, it made sense that they believed this to be a reasonable alternative.
    "Yes," her mother said as she nodded. "A date."
    Eri curled into a small, worn chair and allowed her mind to be numbed by the wash of light from the TV. Her body was exhausted from last night and the stress from today. She fell asleep quickly.
    When she awoke, the living room was completely dark. Her parents had gone to bed and left her in the chair. She was sweaty from sleeping in her clothes. The night time temperatures were supposed to drop into the lower eighties this week, signaling the transition to autumn, but for now their townhouse was hot and stuffy, even at night.
    Eri stumbled blearily into the kitchen. Eleven-fifteen.
    She crept up the stairs, her eyes heavy. She wanted to sleep. But she had a lot she wanted to talk about with Bodhi.
    In her bedroom, she swapped out the thick cotton shorts she had on for the black pants she had worn last night. She hoped for a cooler breeze, putting on a dark long-sleeved t-shirt.
    After