Ghosts of the Metaverse

1. The Perfect Escape

Zayne Carter had spent so much time in the Metaverse that reality felt like a distant memory.

In the real world, he was just another underpaid programmer scraping by in a decaying city. But inside Neon Grid, he was Zenith—a legend. He had built his digital empire from nothing, accumulating vast crypto wealth, rare skins, and an army of followers who worshipped his every move.

Here, he could fly over neon-lit skylines, battle in underground arenas, and hack into forbidden data vaults—all without consequence. No pain, no hunger, no limits.

And the best part? He could stay as long as he wanted.

Or so he thought.

That night, he strapped on his neural rig, the device pulsing as it scanned his brainwaves. The familiar rush of digitization pulled him in.

But something was wrong.

2. A Glitch in Reality

The streets of Neon Grid were empty.

Zayne frowned. Normally, the city was alive—avatars racing past in hovercars, cyber mercenaries patrolling rooftops, digital billboards flashing ads for virtual gear.

But now?

Nothing.

The neon lights flickered, their messages corrupt, twisting into unreadable symbols. The sky above him, usually filled with flying cars and digital fireworks, was a void of static.

Zayne opened his status menu—or at least, he tried.

Error: System Unavailable.

A cold wave of unease settled over him. No menu. No logout button. No way out.

And then—he heard the whispers.

At first, they were distant, like echoes in a vast canyon. Then they grew closer, forming words.

"Help us."

Zayne spun around.

In the alleys, standing beneath flickering streetlights, were figures—avatars frozen in place, their faces distorted, their bodies glitching.

He took a step forward.

The figures snapped their heads toward him in perfect unison.

"You don’t belong here."

His heart pounded. "What the hell is this?"

One of the figures lunged, its body dissolving into code as it reached for him. Instinct took over—Zayne ran.

3. The Dead Don’t Log Out

His boots pounded against the pavement as he raced through the empty city. His usual tricks—jumping into a vehicle, teleporting, warping to a safe zone—all failed.

The system was locked down.

He needed answers.

There was only one place that could help—the Deep Code, the hidden underworld of the Metaverse, where hackers and rogue AI whispered secrets no corporation wanted players to know.

If something was wrong with the Grid, they would know.

He reached the old subway station, its entrance hidden beneath layers of abandoned code. Inside, the Deep Code’s marketplace flickered with unstable light—rows of black-market data traders, AI informants, and corrupted programs hovered in the digital shadows.

A familiar figure approached—Cipher, a rogue AI Zayne had worked with before.

"You look like you’ve seen a ghost," Cipher said, his digital form flickering.

"I think I have," Zayne replied. "The city’s… broken. NPCs are acting weird. I can’t log out."

Cipher’s expression darkened. "You’re trapped."

Zayne’s throat tightened. "Trapped?"

Cipher nodded. "You ever hear about the Echoes?"

Zayne had.

A legend—or so he thought. Players who had been permanently disconnected from reality. Users whose minds had been absorbed by the Metaverse, their real bodies dead, their avatars stuck in an endless loop.

Ghosts.

And now, he was one of them.

4. The Final Choice

"There has to be a way out," Zayne said, his voice shaking.

Cipher hesitated. "There’s one way. But it’s dangerous."

"I don’t care."

The AI gestured toward an old, corrupted server buried deep in the Grid. "That’s where the system keeps the ones who never logged out. If you can reach it, maybe you can break the connection."

Zayne ran.

The city was collapsing around him now—buildings shifting, the ground cracking, echoes whispering his name.

The server room was a void of swirling data, a space beyond the normal rules of the Metaverse. Floating in its center was a massive digital core, pulsing with energy.

And inside it—

Avatars.

Hundreds of them. Faces locked in silent screams, their bodies flickering like dying code.

Zayne felt the pull.

The Metaverse didn’t want him to leave.

"Stay," it whispered. "You belong here now."

But he wasn’t ready to become a ghost.

With the last of his strength, he reached into the core, ripping his connection free.

The world shattered.

5. Waking Up

A gasp.

Zayne’s eyes flew open. His body was drenched in sweat, his heart pounding.

He was back. In his apartment. The neural rig was still strapped to his head, the cables sparking from an overload.

Shaking, he pulled it off, staring at the screen.

Warning: Unauthorized Disconnection Detected.

He was alive.

But the whispers still echoed in his head.

"You don’t belong here."

Had he really escaped?

Or had the Metaverse simply let him go?