Virtually Trapped

Written By: Alice Baburek

Lester Quinn watched his father, Elliot, as he washed the body with disinfectant. The deceased’s eyes had been glued shut, and the jaw secured with wire. The embalming process had been performed the evening before. 

“Lester, I need Mr. Hammond’s suit. Please get it for me. I should be finished with him soon.” Elliot hummed.

“Okay, pops.” He moved around his father towards the back storage room. The medicinal smell hung heavy in the air.

He flipped a switch, and the lights flickered then steadied. The clothes rack had several items of clothing. Each is marked with a name. After a few minutes, Lester found Mr. Hammond’s suit.

His father waited. Lester knew what he had to do. It was his responsibility to dress the dead for the evening viewing. How he hated working beside his father. 

Elliot’s insistence on perfection annoyed Lester. People were not perfect in life; why must they be in death?

After dressing Mr. Hammond, Elliot inspected Lester’s work. Satisfied, he instructed his son to set up the viewing area. Visitation hours began soon.

As Lester climbed the stairs from the basement, he heard his father call out, “All this will be yours one day, Lester.” 

Lester sighed and mumbled, “I don’t want it. I have my own plans.”

**

It had been three years since Lester graduated from high school.  Work on the prototype was nearly completed. The animated horror video game was ready to playtest. It was there that he would work on identifying any types of bugs and glitches that could stall or make the game unplayable. 

His father called the endeavor useless, and spending too much time on the computer was not healthy. But Lester knew better. It would become his future.

As Lester scrolled through the available avatars, he noticed how much of a similarity they were to their once real-life counterparts. Working at a funeral parlor did have its perks. 

Lester did not have to invent characters for his game. Instead, he used actual photographs he had taken of the deceased and downloaded them into his program. The variety of corpses was endless. He had mastered bringing the dead back to life. Even if it was in a video game, this time their deaths would be gruesome unless they won the game.

Of course, his father and the relatives of those used in the creation of the game may not see his point of view. In fact, what he did could be construed as morally and ethically unimaginable. But only if it was found out.

Lester lived by his own compass. And he was sure his viewers and future subscribers would agree with him once they delved into his inconceivable world of horror.   

**

Lester leased an online platform and exported his game for sample testing. He included a comment section for vital feedback. His dream of becoming wealthy at a young age did not include operating a funeral parlor. 

As the viewers climbed in numbers, so did the comments. Most of the suggestions were of a positive nature. Others were dark and disturbing. A few comments gave him pause. But the ones that seemed to stand out were from players who insisted that certain avatars could pass as a deceased loved one, making the game beyond creepy.  

Lester did not focus on the dead and the avatars. He had to weigh the pros and cons of the entirety of the game if he wanted to compete with the big leagues.

So he continued building his video game. Level by level. It took eighteen long months before he was able to release his debut edition online. And this time for money. 

**

Elliot Quinn leaned back in the wooden kitchen chair. His wife, Nettie, had grown extremely ill since she was diagnosed with cancer. Her time was short, according to the doctors. Yet, Lester spent little time with his dying mother. Most of Lester’s day was spent behind closed doors. In fact, he had slipped in his responsibilities in the day-to-day operations of the funeral home. At this rate, Elliot could not think of retirement. Especially knowing he would be spending it alone.

Lester strolled into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and stared inside. After several seconds, he closed it. His father remained silent.

“How’s mom?” Lester plopped down in the chair across from his dad.

Elliot’s eyes filled with tears. “Your mother is dying, Lester. She asks about you all the time. Do you think you could spare a few minutes of your busy life to visit your mother?” His voice rose in pitch.

Lester swallowed. He loved his mother. She had supported his career choice. And soon she would be gone.

“I…I…I’ll go this afternoon.” Lester got up quickly. “I’m sorry, Dad.” And without another word to his father, he left the old man alone.

**

The hospice center was impeccably clean and quiet. A faint hint of lemon lingered in the air. After checking in at the main desk, Lester made his way down the wide hallway. His mother’s room was the last one on the left. 

Lester gave a slight tap and entered. The blond door was heavy. He pushed it open. The single room had sliding doors that led onto a patio. The landscape grounds were flawless. As if the dying patients cared about the lawn. 

His attention turned to his mother. Nettie Quinn lay asleep in the clean, full-size bed. The white sheets pulled up to her thin shoulders. Her ashen face was void of expression.

Lester pulled the chair close to the bed. “Hi Mom…sorry I haven’t been here to visit you. There’s no excuse.” He leaned forward and bowed his head. Tears fell down his cheeks. “I never thanked you for supporting me and my video game.”

“I love you, Lester. But be careful of the path you have chosen. Sometimes the easiest path is not the right one.” 

Lester’s head snapped up to look at his mother. She remained unmoved. Her eyes were still closed. 

Suddenly, the door opened. A middle-aged female nurse came in. She smiled at Lester. 

“Hello…I’m Nurse Jenny. Are you a family member of Ms. Nettie?” The nurse waited.

“I’m Lester…her son.” He quickly wiped away the tears from his face with the back of his hand.

“If you want to talk to your mom, she can still hear you. She’s been in a coma for the last few days.” The nurse adjusted the sheets. She then checked Nettie’s pulse.

“My mom was just talking to me…right before you came in.” Lester sniffed. 

The nurse forced a sad smile. “Your mother hasn’t been conscious or spoken a word in over three days, Lester.” 

Lester stared at his mother. But he heard her voice. He did not imagine it. She was trying to warn him of something.

**

The funeral was highly attended. Nettie Quinn looked as if she were asleep. Her hair and makeup were done to perfection by her husband. Lester refused to touch his mother’s dead body. 

In fact, he could not view his mother’s corpse as it lay in the extravagant coffin. Mourners came and gave their condolences to Elliott. 

Lester stayed far away from his father. More than ever, he wanted to leave the funeral parlor and never return. But his video game was just taking its place online, and competition was fierce. The platform “Steam” was costly. Money from subscribers was tight. Lester knew it would take time before he would see a substantial return. 

Living with his father was his best option for the moment. He would have to try to get along with the old man. And now that his mother was gone, the will to maintain peace had died with her.

  Over the next couple of months, a few words passed between father and son. In fact, Lester noticed the decrease in his father’s business. Was it by choice?

As Lester sat in his room reviewing the latest comments from his subscribers, he noticed the complaints continued to climb. Most were regarding the avatar selection. Lester had always used photos of the deceased who passed through his father’s funeral home. Using animation software, the avatar more than resembled its living counterpart. 

Lester considered purchasing software to configure his own avatars. But downloading photos of the dead saved him time and a ton of money. 

As he clicked on the link that listed the avatars, a sentence flashed across the screen that read “new avatar added,” then quickly disappeared.

Lester’s eyes opened wide. How is that possible? He was the only one who could access the workings of the video horror game. And he knew he had not added anything new since his mother’s passing.

Without hesitation, he began to scroll through the long list. There, at the very end, was the animated character of his mother.   

**

Elliot stood over the young woman’s flawless body. Her skin is smooth except for the faded track of needle marks on the inside of both arms. The coroner had ruled the woman’s death an accidental overdose. But was it really? 

No matter to Elliot. He thought for a moment. A long-sleeved blouse to cover the addiction. 

Suddenly, the door to the basement opened. Lester pounded down the steps. His breathing labored.

“What did you do?” he yelled.

Elliot’s eyebrows scrunched together. “I have no idea what you are talking about, Lester. Explain yourself.”

“Mom…the avatar…my video game. How…did you do it?” He moved quickly to face his father. His hands curled into fists.

“You’re not making any sense, Lester.” Elliot ignored his son and continued with his work. 

Lester did a double-take at the young woman lying naked on the cold slab of steel. She was attractive even in death.

“Stop gawking, Lester. It’s disrespectful.” Elliot continued to dress the dead woman. “If you’re not going to help me, get out.”

“Disrespectful? What do you call downloading mom’s photo to my video game?” His face flushed.

“Why on earth would I download your mother’s photograph? Especially into a video game. Listen to yourself, Lester. You’re so involved in a non-existent world, you’re meshing the real one with a fictional illusion! I’ve told you time and time again about the dangers of the internet!”

Lester turned on his heel and stormed up the steps. Within minutes, he was back at his laptop. He would delete his mother’s avatar immediately.

Much to his surprise, it could not be done. Instantly, he tried to alter the logarithms created during the initial setup of the game. But his mother’s photo remained.

“This isn’t happening.” His fingers flew over the keyboard. It was no use. Nettie’s avatar was locked.

Sweat beaded above his brow. He still could not figure out how his mother got into the game in the first place.

Slowly, curiosity crept in. He clicked on his mother’s avatar and began to play the game. It was unsettling watching his mother battle with gruesome serial killers, zombies, and creatures of the night. 

As Lester increased swiftly through each level, it didn’t take him long before he reached the ultimate goal. With his mother’s avatar finishing the game, she did something unprecedented, which he had no control over.

The woman stared back at Lester. Her face was sad. “Lester, please help me. I’m trapped here along with so many other souls. Let us go, Lester. Let us rest in peace.”

Lester jumped out of his chair. Avatars don’t speak on their own. Narration is programmed into the game. 

“Lester! Help us!” Without warning, his screen went blank. He couldn’t believe what he heard. Did his mother truly speak to him? Or was his father right that he had been spending too many hours online? But what about his mother’s avatar? It was there among so many others he had downloaded. And no matter what he tried, he could not remove it.

For a moment, he considered turning back on the game. With a shaky finger, he pressed the on key. Static filled the screen.

“What the…” Lester did not finish.

Suddenly, the screen came to life. Face after face of his avatars appeared, screaming, yelling, crying, calling out his name. Their voices echoed inside his mind. 

As he slammed the lid of the laptop, his mother’s voice lingered, haunting words: I’m trapped, Lester!

**

Elliot could not believe what he was hearing. Lester had broken the most important rule among so many others. Respect the dead. 

Lester’s father opened his mouth. But no words came out. If this got out, he would be ruined and could go to prison alongside his son.

“Dad…say something,” insisted Lester. He paced back and forth inside the kitchen. 

“I don’t think I will ever understand why you did what you did, Lester. But I do know one thing. You will make this right. Somehow, someway, whatever it takes. Not only for your mother, but for all the others, too.” 

Lester stopped. He plopped down in the chair across from his father. He ran his hand through his mussed hair. “I don’t know how, Dad. I don’t know how.” His eyes swam with tears. 

“You must respect the dead. I tried to instill this from an early age. Yet, you did not heed my warning. How do you remove the avatars?” 

“I’m not sure.” He hung his head.

“I’ve known about your game for quite a while. Your mother told me. She was your biggest supporter. She knew you did not want to continue with the funeral parlor business.” Elliot crossed his arms.

“How do you get rid of them, Lester?” His father pushed.

“The only way I know to make it permanent would be to insert a virus. Once the virus takes over…well, it destroys the game in its entirety. Everything I worked for…” Lester did not finish.

“You did this to yourself, Lester. No one forced your hand. What you did was not only morally and ethically unforgivable, but illegal. And this can be my ruin, too. You must release the souls you trapped regardless of the consequences to you.” His father forced a half grin.

“What if it doesn’t work?” whispered Lester.

“You won’t know until you try, my son. If you created the video game, then you can destroy it. It’s the right and only thing to do.” 

“You believe…the souls are trapped?” His father gave a slight nod.

“You crossed the line, Lester.”

Lester stood up. His body trembled. He knew what to do. “Okay, Dad. Okay.” Lester climbed the stairs. 

First, Lester created a virus he knew would destroy the game. In fact, to make sure it completely wiped out the initial program, he would load the virus through the platform. But he would have to sneak it in using a backdoor he illegally installed when promoting the game. 

After two hours, Lester had what he needed to destroy the game and each link to his subscribers. 

As he bypassed the platform, he set the security measures in place. Lester felt torn. Any money he made from the horror video game would be confiscated immediately. A cyber investigation will be conducted by Steam. With a little luck, it may not be traced back to him. And if it is, he would have to deal with the consequences. 

The insertion of the virus was quick and destructive. Even if the cybersecurity discovered the lethal intrusion, it would be too late to save Lester’s game.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Images of the dead faces he had stolen from the funeral home swirled inside his mind. He never believed in the afterlife until now. Hopefully, it wasn’t too late for all these souls he might have selfishly doomed, especially that of his own mother.

After several minutes, Lester tried to access the platform. The entire website had been shut down. A warning flashed: due to a breach in online security. 

Lester sighed. His lifelong dream was gone, and a chance for a quick profit. He closed his laptop. With all that had transpired, his career path would have to change. 

His father peeked into Lester’s room. “Is it finished?” 

All Lester could do was nod. His father knew now that his son would never follow in his footsteps and take over the family business. 

**

The aftermath of the breach in security within the Stream platform closed the doors permanently for Lester’s dream. The virus was traced directly to him. He was lucky no criminal charges had been sought. 

After several months, Lester was able to obtain an insignificant position at a software company in the nearby city. His job there was to check glitches when using online credit forms. It wasn’t exciting, but it was a steady job.

Sometimes, alone in his cubicle, Lester’s mind wandered to his mother. He may never know how the photo of his mother was converted into an avatar. But at this moment, it did not matter. He could only hope that with the destruction of the video game, her soul, along with so many others, had been freed to continue on their ultimate journey.  

Alice Baburek is an avid reader, determined writer and animal lover. She lives with her wife and four canine companions. Retired, she challenges herself to become an unforgettable emerging voice.