Kira buried her head under her pillow, hoping that it would block out the yelling and giggling from her younger siblings. "Shut up," she moaned into her bed's foam mattress. "It's too early."

"No it's not," Anya retorted. She was the younger of the twins - and the noisier.

"It's Christmas," Mari added. As the elder of the twins, she sometimes felt the need to be more mature than Bailey. Today was not one of those times.

Kira lifted her head, opened her eyes and blinked in the light from the screen that took up the far wall of the room she shared with her sisters. The wallscreen was filled with images of cartoon animals gambolling across computer-generated landscapes filled with snow and festive greenery, proclaiming a "Merry Christmas to all you children!"

"Christmas? Why don't you go and open your presents and leave me to sleep?" Kira pulled herself upright and into a sitting position. She glared at the twins.

"Can't," Mari replied.

"Mom said we had to wait until she had got up." Anya smiled sweetly at her older sibling. "And we don't get any presents if we're not good."

Kira fumbled for the pouch that she kept under the bed, and rummaged through her belongings. Her fingers felt the familiar shape of her ARgoggles, and she pulled them out of the plastic bag. The goggles were an old pair: made of slabs of black plastic that the decals had long since rubbed off. They had been in her possession since she was eleven. Even then they had not been the latest model. Now that Kira was fifteen, the ARgoggles were at least two generations behind anything on the market - embarrassingly unfashionable rather than charmingly retro. She put the goggles on, snapping the plastic headband snugly into place above her ears, and turned them on. The lenses blanked, obscuring Kira's view of the room, then cleared. A series of data tags popped into her field of vision, overlaying the bedroom with red, green and blue infoglyphs.

"Time?" Kira demanded. A clock appeared in the top right-hand corner of the goggles. Kira grinned as she read the digits. It was late enough that her mother would be up. "Yeah, well. I'm older than you two, so I can do what I want." Kira knew it was a lie, but it would give her a head start on her sisters. She slid out of her bed and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Kira's mother was up and busy tidying the apartment's living area. This was a combination of lounge, kitchen and communal space. It was also used as a sleeping area by Kira's mother, the only adult in the household, as the sole bedroom had been given over to her children.

"Merry Christmas, mom!" Kira paused on her way to the shower room to give her mother a hug.

"And you, stinky!" Kira's mother wrinkled her nose in mock disgust as she returned the embrace. Then she pushed Kira away and went back to resetting the couch.

It didn't take long for Kira to shower and dress; she had become practiced in the art of getting ready quickly as the twins did not leave her much time to finish getting ready for the day. She pushed her way past her sisters and, still drying her long auburn hair, headed for the kitchen niche to grab a bowl of cereal. "What time's dinner?"

Kira's mother tapped the interface panel on the side of her ARgoggles and focussed on the glyphs that scrolled across the dark lenses. :Well, the President's speech is at one -."

"So I've got time to go to the mall?" Kira wiped her mouth and gave her mother a pleading look.

"If you're late, no dinner. And no presents. You know I like everyone here for Christmas."

"I won't be late. Don't worry." Kira swallowed the last of her breakfast and took the bowl back to the kitchen niche, dodging her siblings as they hurtled out of the shower room. Then she grabbed her favourite jacket from the pile by the door. "I'll be back before one."

"You'd better be!" her mother called out. "It is Christmas!"

The apartment door closed behind her, and Kira hurried through the maze of corridors towards the mall. Having lived all her life in the Stenson Heights apartment complex, she was able to navigate the almost identical passages with an ease born of familiarity. Her ARgoggles provided her with a stream of data, showing Kira the tags and glyphs that permeated the augmented reality around her. Adverts, artwork, public notices - all of these overlays were available to anyone with a pair of ARgoggles. As Kira made her way to the mall, the world around her was filled with colour and movement, both real and virtual. With the latest goggles it would be impossible to distinguish the one from the other; but Kira's current pair was not that good.

As soon as Kira entered the mall, the overlays in her goggles were overwhelmed. A flock of adverts appeared wherever Kira looked, hawking their (age-appropriate and credit-referenced) wares at her. It took a moment for Kira to reset her ad blocker software and launch a 'Find My Friends' request. Then she found a space on the balcony overlooking the shops and restaurants, and waited.

It did not take long for Kira's friends to respond. <HI KIRA> The response scrolled across the lenses of Kira's goggles. <LEVEL 3 FOOD COURT - WANT US TO GET YOU SOMETHING?>

<GET ME A SHAKE> Kira sent back. <I'VE GOT SOME CREDIT BUT DON'T GO CRAZY>

She traversed the mall levels, heading for the food court. As she went, Kira kept in contact with her friends, exchanging messages and the latest memes from her media feeds. By the time she reached her friends, Kira was deep in half-a-dozen different conversation threads, waving them expertly around one another.

Although it was Christmas Day, the food court was busy; filled with teenagers and the smell of hot oil and fried food. Kira's goggles overlaid the scene with glyphs and avatars, transforming her friends' appearances from the mundane to the fantastic. But the sudden influx of data caused her old ARgoggles to momentarily glitch out, confusing her with random static and blocky visual artefacts.

"You alright there?" Kira felt somebody press a cold paper cup into her hand. Her vision cleared and, for a moment, Kira saw her friend Dab standing before her, wearing his usual faded jeans and hoodie, before his image was replaced by an anime-style avatar.

Kira took the cup from Dab. "Thanks. It's just these things." She gestured at the goggles that covered her eyes. "I've had these for ever. I asked for a new pair for Christmas, but I haven't got them yet."

Dab's avatar grinned at her, its teeth white and seamless. "Well, if you want to meet me later I got a present for you."

Kira perked up, curious to hear more. "What is it?"

"You'll see. But if you want to, you'll have to meet me at four."

Kira took a sip of her drink, enjoying the frosty taste of chocolate and mint. "Sure. Mom wants me home for the president's speech and dinner." She looked down at her feet. "It's kind of a tradition with us. But after that she won't care."

"It's a date, then." Dab gave Kira's hand a squeeze.

Kira spent the morning with her friends, roaming the mall shops and watching the Christmas displays. Occasionally they met up with other groups of teenager trying to fill the void of Christmas Day morning. Then, at noon, Kira's goggles flashed a reminder to her. "Gotta go," Kira said. She sent a private message to Dab: <SEE YOU AT 4>

As Kira opened the door to her family's apartment, she was greeted by the tang of hot metal and smoky meat, and the sound of happy screeching from her siblings exulting in their new toys.

"Just in time," Kira's mother greeted her with a foil-covered tray. "The president's about to give his speech."

"Thanks mom." Kira glanced down at the twins. "What about my present?"

"You'll have to wait until after dinner." Kira's mother chivvied the twins onto the couch, then sat down beside them. Kira settled down onto the floor and ripped the foil off her Christmas dinner. "Everybody pay attention," Kira's mother said, and turned on the wallscreen. "Mr President is going to speak to us."

The wallscreen displayed an image of the presidential seal, and the strains of an orchestra playing the national anthem began to fill the small room. Kira felt strange, knowing that almost everybody in Stenson Heights would be doing the same thing. The picture faded to show the president sitting in a leather armchair by a roaring fire, a book in his hands. From where Kira was sitting, it looked like the president was in the room with them, sitting just beyond the wallscreen. He looked up and, as if noticing his audience for the first time, smiled and closed his book, placing it in his lap. "My fellow citizens," he began.

Kira did not pay any attention to the speech. Christmas dinner with the president had been one of the family traditions for as long as she could remember. The one time she had missed the president's speech, Kira had been locked out of the apartment until she had begged for forgiveness. Instead Kira let the president's words wash over her, leaving her to concentrate on the feeling of warmth and family togetherness, to enjoy the brief peacefulness of the occasion. But, with dinner over, the feeling was ripped from her. Her mother took the trays to be disposed of, and the twins fell to their playful squabbling. Kira felt the walls of the apartment start to close in around her. She stood up.

"Thanks for dinner, mom."

"You're welcome," Kira's mother replied, busy in the kitchen niche.

"Can I go out again? It's just ... ." Kira fidgeted nervously, unsure of how her mother would react.

"Sure." Kira's mother glanced back over her shoulder at her daughter, a tired look on her face. "Whatever. Have fun, kid. Don't be back too late - right? Curfew's at ten for you."

Kira grabbed her jacket, eager to take advantage of the possibility of freedom. Then her mother called out: "Kira!"

"Yes mom?"

"Don't forget your present. Merry Christmas." Her mother held out a small package. Kira reached out for it. "Go on - open it."

Inside the box was a new pair of ARgoggles. These were sleek and light, unlike her old pair. Kira pulled the goggles out of their packaging and fumbled them onto her face. "Thanks mom. Merry Christmas."

Kira left the apartment and headed through the complex for the mall. Dab was waiting for her in the food court, sitting on a bench by the balcony that overlooked the bustling hall beneath. He grinned at her, his avatar melding seamlessly to his body. "Did you get anything good for Christmas, then?" he asked.

"Out," Kira said. "Second best thing I got this year."

Dab laughed. "I know what you mean. Second best?"

"Maybe. You said you had a present for me."

"Come on then." Dab stood up slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Let's go. We've got a bit of walking to do." He headed for the exit from the plaza.

Kira pulled her jacket close about her and hurried after Dab. "Where are we going?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

The two teenagers left the mall and hurried through the labyrinthine corridors of the apartment block, going into territory that Kira was unfamiliar with. She stopped and grabbed hold of Dab's sleeve. "I thought we were going to your apartment," she said. "But that's back the other way."

Dab shrugged. "That's right."

"So - ?"

"So we're not going that way." Dab lifted Kira's hand from his hoodie. "Trust me."

Kira watched Dab walk away, then ran to catch up with him. The pair made their way to a corridor that was filled with crates and abandoned machinery. Dab slowed his pace and scanned the walls as if looking for something. Kira peered through her goggles, trying to work out what it was that her friend was doing; but all she could see in the overlays in her goggles were warning glyphs and gang tags. Why had Dab come here? Then she noticed that she was alone. Kira's adolescent bravado vanished. "Dab! Where are you?" she whispered.

Kira gaped in surprise as Dab emerged from the corridor wall as if it wasn't there. "I'm here," he said. "This way. Before somebody else turns up." He grabbed hold of Kira's hand and pulled her through the wall after him. For a moment Kira's vision went black. Had she gone blind? Had something happened to her goggles? No - the status flags that hung before her told her that everything was fine. But why? Then her vision cleared. Dab had pulled her into a cramped passageway, barely big enough for her slight frame. Ducts and conduits ran along the bare concrete walls, held in place by rusted brackets and corroding stanchions ready to snatch at the unwary. Bulkhead lamps placed at regular intervals in the ceiling cast faded pools of light around them. Kira cycled her goggles through the different overlays, hoping to find out something about where she was, but all the infoglyphs were greyed out. She was lost.

"What is this, Dab?"

Dab's avatar grew a small pair of horns from its forehead and grinned at Kira. "It's one of the block's service corridors. You know - the ones the techs use when they go to fix things."

Kira shook her head. "I didn't know ... ."

"I found this one when I was exploring."

"But there's nothing to see out there!"

Dab shook his head. "I used my eyes."

From his tone, Kira could tell that she wasn't going to get a better explanation than that. "So you've hidden my present in here?"

"No." Dab sighed. "We have to go this way to get to your present. I can't bring the present to you. You have to go to it."

Kira tried to puzzle out what Dab had just said. "So where do we go from here?"

"Only one way to go."

Dab set off again, threading his way between the obstacles that lined the corridor. Kira stumbled after him, trying not to get caught up on the protruding pipes and drooping cables that seemed to be everywhere, threatening to catch at her or send her sprawling. After a dozen metres, they came to a battered metal door that barred their progress. Dab scanned it. "It doesn't look like anybody's fixed the alarms yet," he said. "We should be safe."

"Alarms?" The word gave Kira a feeling of illicit dread. What had started off as a teenage adventure now took on a more serious note. Kira knew what happened to kids who were caught breaking the rules. "But the proctors - !"

"If they don't know we're here, then they can't come after us, can they?" Dab tugged at the door's handle. "They haven't come for me yet, have they? Now, give me a hand."

Kira reached out and grabbed the handle with both hands, her fingers wrapping around Dab's. She felt the warmth of his body as he pressed back against hers. "Ready."

"Pull."

The teenagers pulled as hard as they could; and, with a rusty squealing, the door swung open. A sudden wave of cold air rolled out and over them; the drop in temperature set Kira's sinuses tingling. She sneezed, and her head banged against Dab. "Sorry."

"Don't worry. Just don't do it again."

Beyond the door was a vertical shaft, made from the same concrete as the corridor they were in. A metal staircase clung to the wall, spiralling out of sight in both directions. As the pair stepped through the door and into the shaft, the metal of the staircase rang with their footsteps. Here the air was cold and fresh with the taste of nickel-steel and grease - very different from the warm mustiness of the maintenance corridor.

"Up," Dab said. He started up the staircase. Kira followed, holding tight to the railings that separated the steps from a long drop into oblivion. Together they went higher and higher, climbing ever upwards until they came to the top of the staircase. Here the shaft was capped off, with the only way out being another metal door. This door was smaller than the one they had come through so far below, but it was in better condition. Dab twisted at the door lock and effortlessly pulled the door open. "We're here."

Kira stepped onto the roof of the Stenson Heights apartment complex. Her goggles lit up again as they started to receive new signals and data from the local network, projecting a riot of colour and information into Kira's field of vision. Semi-transparent giants towered above the city, while streaks of light flashed across the darkness of the Christmas Day night. In front of her was the city in all its augmented glory. "It's - ," Kira began, but Dab silenced her.

"This isn't your present," Dab said. He stood in front of Kira, his avatar looming large before her, and reached out. "Close your eyes." He grasped the strap that held Kira's Argoggles to her face.

Kira backed away. "Hey! These are new!"

"Trust me. I won't break them. But - please! - close your eyes."

"Alright." Kira took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She felt Dab's fingers slide under the plastic strap and gently peel it up and away from her skin. The weight of her goggles was lifted from her face, and she felt the chill of the night air on her eyes and forehead.

"Now," Dab said. "Open your eyes."

Kira opened her eyes, blinking away the cold-spawned tears, and - for the first time in a long time - saw the world.

* * * * * * *

I make no secret of my views about social media, virtual reality and all those other things that the digital advocates try to push on us. I am a firm believer in the real world and trying to live an analogue life. I know that I am fighting against the inevitability of progress - and many people have tried to convince me of the benefits that come from it. But I still find it hard to accept something I do not want - let alone embrace it.