The package on the stoop filled Jill with glee as she arrived home from her day job. She rushed inside past it, setting down her briefcase and paperwork on the dining room table before hurrying back to the nondescript cardboard box. Her first, second, and third attempts to carry the box into the house were met with defeat, and it was only after a slow, laborious effort to push it each inch of the way to the living room did Jill get it inside.

Jill collapsed against the box, noticing only now the labels clearly indicating a two person lift, and how it nearly weighed as much as she did. With a groan she stood and walked to the front door, closing and locking it. Quickly, she went around the house, shuttering all the blinds and giving herself sufficient privacy before stripping down completely.

She was actually proud of her body, the sheen of sweet only helping to accent the curves she worked hard to maintain. As a lead researcher in one of the top technological R&D corporations in the world, she stood out among her peers for both her intelligence and beauty.

Her position had a few benefits. There was good pay, healthcare, time off, and other perks you would expect, but working for Innovention Inc. had another, more off-the-books perk. When the company you work for designs bleeding edge technology that is to be used by the average person in an average home, what better way to conduct data on that technology than put it in the average homes of your staff. The staff is happy that they get cool free toys to play with, the researchers get more data than they can hope to use, and the advertising team can talk about how happy the people using early trial demos are. Everyone wins.

Which is why this box had appeared at Jill's doorstep. Unpacked, it seemed to comprise of two objects connected by a thick winding cable. The first was the main system, a large metal box consisting of most of the bulk, emblazoned with the words “Virtual Vacation” on the side. After plugging the massive unit into a wall outlet it seemed to hum softly like a white noise machine.

The other item was the size and shape of a door, and in practice, that's what it was. Jill wasted no time, having already been trained on how to set up her new toy, in placing the door standing up in the center of her living room. The doorframe it was attached to connected the door to the mystery box she turned on a moment ago.

“Well, here goes nothing…” Jill mumbled to herself, looking at all the green status indicators, affixed to the side of the door like strange glowing doorbells. She twisted the knob and opened the door, revealing nothing.

Actually, literally, nothing. Stretched across the doorframe like velvet cloth was a blank, black expanse. She slipped her hand through the inky nothing is until it vanished up to her wrist. Peering around the edge of the door revealed nothing coming out the other side. It was simply gone, missing.

This was the plan, of course. In her logical and scientific brain, she knew the event horizon of the doorframe was disassembling her atomic structure and converting it into energy while preserving an exact digital representation in the Virtual Vacation computer was normal for the device. But seeing it happen, watching the machine 'magically’ making her 'disappear’... It was insane.

Jill pulled her hand out, looking at the appendage. It was fully intact, of course it would be. The critical flaws had been tested and refined in the labs. This was real world use testing.

“Well, might as well getting testing here. Here we go!” Before hesitation from the fear of the unknown could grip her anything further, she stepped through the yawning portal like one would the door to their bedroom.

Jill looked around her. The chill of the ceiling fan on her naked body was gone, so was the warmth of the sunlight heating her house in the late afternoon. She patted her front, looking down at herself. Everything seemed and felt normal. It was strange knowing she was in a computer now, despite everything seeming the same.

The room she was in now was large and open, with all white surfaces covered in gridlines to give a sense of depth. Jill stepped forward, the floor a pleasant and relaxing warmth under her bare feet.

“Virtual Vacation!” She called out, a low chime emanating from seemingly all around her. The system heard her command. “New user setup, please.”

“Of course. Jill Jacklyn, your data has been recorded with our system. You have been granted administrator powers. Would you like to continue with voice commands, or switch to the input tablet?” The computer system had a mature woman's voice, even sounding almost sultry. Jill wondered who in the company had been selected to record that voice.

“Uhm, let's stick with voice commands for now. Maybe the tablet later.”

“Of course, Jill Jacklyn. Please specify length of real world time you would like your vacation to last, location for your vacation, and how long you want to be on vacation.”

Jill paused for a moment. “What's the difference between your first and last question? That wasn't covered in the briefing.”

The computer responded in a patient tone, clearly time had been spent on training the informative sections of the programming. “The length of real world time for your vacation is what time you want to return home to reality. If you have work in the morning, or dinner cooking and need to be home in time for that, your real world time allows you to enjoy your vacation, knowing you'll be returned to the real world in time for your real life again.

“Length of vacation time is typically not configurable on your first vacation, but since you are a representative of Innovention Inc., you have been granted access to additional features. The simulation of your Virtual Vacation can be sped up or slowed down by up to a factor of one thousand. This allows for seemingly longer vacations in the blink of an eye as far as the real world is concerned.”

Jill thought for a moment. It made sense, after all a computer simulation can have its speed controlled, and it's all just relative perception.

“Well, computer? Why don't we make this vacation last for three hours in the real world, but an entire day in here. Let's go… to the beach! My coworker told me you can do a nude beach? I hope?” Jill blushed, her white cheeks glowing pink. It was mildly embarrassing, but since it was entirely fake it didn't matter. Not like anyone would see her naked while doing this.

“Of course, Jill Jacklyn.”

The room fizzled into oblivion as a beach scene faded in to replace it. Some people a modest distance down the beach were partying, drinking and swimming and shouting. Jill seemed to be on her lonesome though, having a small section to herself.

Her senses filled with the world around her. The sound of crashing waves, along with the young adults partying. She could smell the salt water. The warmth of the sun danced on her skin, tingling softly. There was nothing betraying the scene, except the door still standing behind her, an obvious doorway leading to nowhere emerging out of the sand.

Jill yawned. The warmth was relaxing, and a nap after a long day at work sounded amazing. “Computer? Do I just call you that?”

“You can call me anything you wish, Jill Jacklyn. If it assists you, I was designated ‘V.A.L.E.R.I.E.’, for Virtual Automated Leisure Enhancing Robotic Interaction Endpoint.”

“Alright, Valerie. Thanks.”

“Of course, Jill Jacklyn. I'll remove the door now, but at any time you can call me to leave or change anything you wish.”

Jill nodded, to no one in particular, and glanced over her shoulder. Where the door was, she could see a path in the sand leading up to the boardwalk, and the rest of the town. She wondered for a moment how far it went. Could she wander the town for lunch? What if she got in a taxi, could she drive even further away? Would she lose the door, or could it appear anywhere?

She rubbed her temples as she could feel a wave of stress building. She laid back and sighed, closing her eyes, ending up dozing off under the warmth of the sun.

===

Jill woke up in the middle of the night, laying face down in the still-warm sand. She slowly got up and stretched, watching the sights and scenes around her. Further down the beach a bonfire was roaring, with some people dancing and drinking around it. The lights on the boardwalk seemed to twinkle serenely, shops closing up for the night.

And over the water the moon hung low, casting a pale glow over the scene. Entranced, Jill walked towards it. She shivered as the cold surf washed over her toes, walking further into the sea. She marveled at how amazingly realistic this all felt, with a tinge of fear striking through her as she realized how easily she could confuse the real world and this one.

She stood for a long while, watching the distant waves crash in the sea. She could feel the tide dragging out the sand from beneath her feet, slowly burying her up to her ankles. She was plenty rested, and the idea of spending the rest of her predetermined day in here seemed fruitless. She'd rather just head to work for the next day.

“Valerie?” She called out into the night air.

“Yes, Jill Jacklyn?”

“You can control how fast time moves between here and the real world; would it be possible to make it so that by the time I get to the door and head back to reality, it's about an hour before I have to go to work?”

“Of course, Jill Jacklyn. Head to the door when you are ready to leave and I'll handle speeding the simulation the necessary degree.”

“Thanks… and in the future, just call me Jill.”

Jill stood at the water's edge moments longer, reluctant to leave. She knew she had to, this wasn't the real world after all. It was serene and perfect.

Resigned to come back after work, she trudged to the door, and opened it back to reality. Her home awaited behind the blank canvas of the portal. Stepping through, she found it just how she left it, lights on, her clothes strewn about the floor. Except it was morning, now, and work was coming soon. Jill sighed, and readied herself for the day. She went to her bedroom to grab fresh clothes, and started to slide on her hose. It felt rough and irritating against her skin, unlike how pantyhose normally felt.

Looking down, the cause was apparent, if not seemingly impossible. Her feet were covered in sand. She was so used to the sensation while in the Virtual Vacation, she hadn't realized it followed her out… or how tanned her skin had become, for that matter. She normally never went tanning - her body burned far faster than she could get any color normally, but in a simulation, why would the computer suffer her a sunburn. Instead she had a perfectly even tan that seemed to glow from her skin. From an entirely virtual sun, on a virtual beach, her virtual body got a virtual tan… and now her real body had a real tan.

Jill shook her head, thinking about the implications of a virtual world where anything is possible and it could change the user even in the real world. She was surely going back into the Virtual Vacation later, but now she had a massive bug report to file with the research team.