Image by Feeligood from Pixabay

Deryk pulled off the VR visor and rubbed his eyes. It had been a long day at work and he was ready for some chill time. His husband Nic was still working, still plugged into his visor and the small twitches of his hands told Deryk that Nic was working on something.

Deryk sighed. Nic’s job often kept him working late and they never wanted to pay him for those late hours. It was criminal how they could get away with overworking their staff. But with the new virtual jobs, employers could get away with not paying overtime saying that the logs could have been tampered with and there was no actual proof the person had worked overtime. The government had bought it and companies now could overwork their virtual employees without any recourse to the employee.

Deryk’s company wasn’t like that. If you worked overtime, you were fairly compensated. They tried not to have you work overtime because they knew how much of a drain the VR work was on someone’s mind. But other companies weren’t so like-minded. Ever since the last major pandemic, when the global economy had shut down for nearly two weeks because people were dying in the thousands, virtual jobs and remote work had taken the place of in person jobs and now it was nearly impossible to find work anywhere that wasn’t done by robots or a virtual employee.

Nic sighed and signed off. He tossed the visor on its charging stand. “I hate this company,” he muttered.

Deryk brought him a drink and kissed him on the top of his head. “I keep telling you to apply to Venadyne,” he said.

“I have. They’re not hiring right now,” Nic said. “But they do like what they see on my resume so they’re going to keep me in mind when they do start hiring again.”

“Good. Venadyne is a good company and I know it’s hard to get in, but once you’re in you’re set for life,” Deryk said. “So, what’s on the agenda for tonight?”

“I was thinking of trying to watch the fireworks tonight,” Nic said. “I haven’t done that since I was a kid and I really want to watch something explode that doesn’t mean someone’s going to die.”

“Fireworks?” Deryk asked. Then he remembered what day it was. “Oh, that’s right. It’s the Fourth of July. I keep forgetting people still celebrate that. It seems so pointless now.”

“I agree, but it’s still a national holiday,” Nic said. “Not that any company gives you the day off anymore. But there are fireworks in the park. Most people just watch them on their visors. I want to go see them in person. Want to join me?”

Deryk grinned. “Sure, why not? I don’t think I’ve been out of the house in a month. Let’s go.”

They hopped in the car and punched in the address to the park. The car eased itself into traffic and made its way to the Cinthia Andrus Memorial Park and pulled to a stop. There were a few other cars in the parking lot and some families spreading blankets on the grass. Like Nic and Deryk, they were masked for protection.

The two men spread out their blanket and settled in. It was a warm summer night and it felt good to have his arm around Nic, reclining on the soft grass covered by the blanket, and staring up at the stars. How often did they forget, bound as they were to their virtual worlds, that the real world existed?

As they waited, the first of the fireworks began. An explosive rain of blue and gold erupted in the sky. Deryk and Nic shouted appreciatively, as did everyone else in the park. Over the next two hours, the two men shouted and cheered as the show got more elaborate. The grand climax ended the show and Deryk and Nic were left awestruck by the sight and the sound. The feeling of it could not be replicated by watching it on the VR headset.

Finally, they gathered their blanket and made their way back to their car. They hit the button to take them home and let the car drive them. Deryk held Nic’s hand all the way back and thought of the wonderful night they’d just had. “We’re doing this again next year,” Nic said quietly.

“Agreed,” Deryk said.