Chapter 1 – Some Things Begin, Somethings End

Beep.

She was on fire.

Beep.

She was all ice.

Beep— Beep.

Her arm, her hands, her fingers all felt like that childhood winter when, disobeying her mother, she chose to cruise the frozen lake on skates. She had made it only a dozen meters when, as her mother had foretold, she fell face-first into the crunching ice, diving into the blue-black dark. What had followed was the righteous anger of desperate hands, dragging her back into the light.

Into a tub her prepubescent body was dumped, frozen and shivering, wondering why the lukewarm water felt like lava.

It was a sensation that mirrored her present circumstance.

With great effort, Lana Zacanissian attempted to open her eyelids.

Beep.

A jolt of inexplicable pain shot through her skull, ran down her arm, and triggered reciprocal bolts of agony that shot through the entire lower half of her body until she was wide-awake with one eye open.

Beep.

She was… in a hospital.

THANK GOD. Her mind finally caught up. I was saved. But by whom? The coast guard? Did those very same ungrateful employees of hers have a change of conscience? It was a plausible deduction. In the USA, it was no easy feat to murder a 1% CEO and not face capital punishment. Ever since that trend took off in the mid-2020s, the Department of Justice has designated the motive as a Federal Hate Crime.

Click.

The door to her hospital room yawned open, flooding the room with a pale, clinical nimbus. It was then that Lana noted how small her hospital room looked. This detail made no sense because her level of coverage would have had her air-lifted from the Swiss Alps by the US Military and chauffeured to Cedars-Sinai by a team of primary physicians in every relevant discipline. They would do this because, one, it was their job. And two, a donation from her grateful self could probably result in the building of yet another Neurology Wing, or at least a modest Cardiology Theatre.

Nonetheless, this hospital room was small, cramped, and smelled strongly of antiseptic.

“Oh my, you’re awake.” The nurse, a stout, chocolate-complexioned woman with a thick Nigerian accent, sounded delighted. “I’ll inform the doctor right away.”

Lana tried to crane her head, but once again her body declared no.

The doctor who arrived looked like he was barely a few years out of medical school. From the name tag, she was apparently in a place called “St Marten’s Children’s Hospital”.

Jesus Christ, they sent me to a kids’ hospital? Lana’s heart felt physically in pain as disappointment made her almost drown a second time. What kind of stupidity is this? Assuming Emily was still around, she would have the girl dragged before HR and—

“Ah, our little bird is awake. I have good news, and bad news,” the weedy voice of her guilty-looking physician spoke through his spectacles. “We’ve treated your injuries as required by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labour Act, then we found out that you have no insurance… Fortunately, someone offered to pay your operating expense, but the aftercare is still outstanding… As you are a ward of the state…”

This man is insane. Lana could only stare at the obtuse fellow in his Mormon shirt-and-tie getup. I am a grown woman. Why would I need a Guardian? Furthermore, I have the best healthcare coverage in the United States. My custom plan makes Cigna Platinum look like Silver.

“… But don’t worry about all that. For now, all of us here at St Marten’s will fight to make you whole again. Of course, there are some caveats. You may be asked to sign something once you recover. That is, unless your caseworker…”

The man’s incessant pauses were pissing her off and making her oxygen meter unhappy. Lana wanted to shout at the man, or at least, shout her policy number, but once again, she was paralysed by pain.

“Alright, Doctor Mills, that’s enough. Nwam needs rest, can’t you see that? I think her ibuprofen is wearing off…” The nurse said.

The young doctor shut as told. “Are you in pain, Miss?”

Fuck YES I am in pain. Give me the morphine. Give me Percocet. Give me everything.

“So er… that’s the good news,” her physician said happily. “Now that we don’t have to worry about your insurance, you’ll get more than just Tylenol.”

The scalding gaze the nurse gave the man mirrored Lana’s pain.

“Ha… that was a joke. Let’s do a head-to-toe, and I’ll see if we can ease your, ah… discomfort.” Her physician approached, slipping into a pair of latex gloves, joined by a worn stethoscope around his neck and an old penlight in his coat pocket. “Nurse Bessey, privacy curtain, please. Now… look at my finger. Try to follow it… good… now…”

Lana played along, suddenly less sure of her circumstances.

“Is this your name?” Her doctor asked, moving a clipboard toward her face.

Lana’s eyes watered.

Euphemia Fontaine? Who the hell is Euphemia Fontaine?

With supreme effort, she shook her head.

“Oh…” Doctor Mills seemed taken aback. “Is this NOT your name? Little lady?”

Lana shook her head again, more vigorously this time.

Beep. Beep. Beep. The heartbeat monitor protested.

“Er… Bessey?” Dr Mills retreated. “I’ll speak to Doctor Harper about what medications he may recommend. We’ll need a CT Scan. Can you…”

“I can.” The Nurse allowed the young doctor with the face of medically induced insomnia to retreat. With a matronly kindness, she placed her great, heaving body beside the gurney bed. With great tenderness, the Nurse with the name of Bessey held her hand.

The sight of the IV cannula stuck in a child’s hand made Lana’s skin come alive.

“Now, now, Eppie. I know it’s scary. When the ambulance brought you in, we were almost ready to give you up, but Doctor Harper insisted that we could give you a future, and here we are. A great many people have, despite everything, done more than what was necessary to keep you in this world. Insurance or no, we’ll take care of you, at least until you can take care of yourself. Do you understand?”

Not knowing what else to do, Lana nodded.

“Good girl. You survive now. Don’t think about anything else. Only the living can worry about what comes next.” Her nurse made the sign of the cross. “Rest. I’ll bring Dr Mills around after breakfast, after you’ve had ten hours of sleep and a meal. Don’t be too harsh on him. He’s a shịshị pincher, but his heart’s in the right place. Now rest. Nothing will make us happier than to see you walk out of here on your own two feet. Blink if we’re on the same page.”

She blinked.

“Oh, bless you, sweetheart.” The nurse’s eyes grew warm and moist. “Thank you, Eppie. It means a lot to us.”

The nurse then asked her whether she needed to evacuate her fluids.

Lana did not, nor would she want to be assisted.

Click.

The door closed.

The room grew dark—then suddenly bright.

What the fuck is this? Lana had experienced every form of VR and AR on the market. Hell, she lobbied for weakened privacy laws to consolidate the AR glasses market, but even so, these displays had far too much fidelity. There was also the fact that she had one functioning eye, and yet she had depth perception.

OBLIVION AWAITS? Her mind rioted. What the fuck does that even mean? Am I a part of some prank? Is this a prank game show? The menu, appearing no less than Apple’s latest offering in spatial computing, had no apparent control modules. If so, then it was ridiculous that..

NO… YES! YES! FUCK YES! Lana almost screamed in the physical sense, were it not for the oxygen mask and the strangled sensation in her swollen throat.

Her vision dilated.

Euphemia Fontaine [Lana Zacanissian]						Causality
Strength	10 (-3)	Athletics				15
Agility	12 (-4)	Acrobatics				Health
Vitality	11 (-4)	Endurance	Pain Suppression			12 / 25
Wisdom The author’s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.	27	Insight	Emotional Intelligence	Perception	Legalism	Stamina
Intelligence	35	Arithmetics	Accounting and Finance	Business Acumen		18 / 30
Charisma	12 (-3)	Persuasion Continue Reading You are reading a free preview (50%). Log in to unlock the full chapter and join comments. Log In to UnlockCreate Account Related chapter tags #metaworldhopecorechapter1#metaworldhopecorechapter2#metaworldhopecorechapter3#metaworldhopecorelatestchapter#metaworldhopecorereadonline 0 chapter views Related Novels When the Sirens Count Down Moneymaker [Superhero Academy LitRPG, B1 fully written] Nobody Saves the Princess [Comedy, LitRPG, Dungeon Crawler, Progression] Last Light Under Ash 0 Comments You must be logged in to comment. Bookmark Quote TTS Link Play Pause Stop Skip Scroll Settings Note DMCATermsPrivacyContact 0 online