Mecha — Eric S. Brown

Chris never planned on being a hero. Of course, he never planned on being quite possibly the last human left alive either. He watched the Earth die from orbit as a virus swept across the globe. All that survives of the human race now resides in the totally immersive video game known as Ki-land. However, that virtual world has been infected by a digital version of the virus that left the Earth in ruins. Chris and his team of fellow Mech pilots must find a means of stopping the virus inside Ki-land before the legacy of humanity is erased forever and all that remains are the giant monsters that the virus created in its wake.