Eugene Sims had three seconds where he thought he'd put himself into the wrong video game, only to realize he didn't have one that was all beaches and confused strangers. And nothing in his games smelled quite as real. Oh, sure, the lava and fire in Heavens Hellfire had a certain almost-painful quality to it, and he was sure he could smell the heat of it.

But this sand felt really, really real. Not like the static electricity-feel of objects in a game. So he was pretty damn confused until he heard the guy speak.

"Yeah," he says, nodding his agreement. "Yeah, it really is. The last time some stranger knew my name, I ended up mentally shut down in a concrete prison."

It's a long story. A very long story.

"There were no cookies at all involved, or a place to live. And absolutely no beach, even if we were in the middle of the ocean."