Have you ever had the feeling that everything was going just a tad too perfectly? I know that feeling all too well. It all started on a seemingly normal day as I drove from my parent’s house to the college I attended. It was about 10 miles from the house, so it was easier to drive. At the last turn, before I could see the college, I was blindsided and pushed straight through a wall of a convenience store.
I don’t remember that part, but that is what my parents told me when I came to at the hospital. As I moved to sit up, I felt something was wrong. Rather it was that something felt missing. I lifted the blanket and relief filled me. I still had my legs, but it felt as if they weren’t even there. It almost feels as if they were just asleep, but when I poked them with my finger I wouldn’t have known if I had just touched my leg except for the fact that I was looking right at them with my finger on them. To verify this I slapped my leg, still nothing. My heart plummets again. As I blink the confusion out of my eyes and look at my parents all that registers in my mind is how tired they look.
“How long was I out?” I asked. Every passing moment between what I said and them not responding just expounds upon the dread that I already feel. It took three whole minutes before anyone said anything else. I counted.
“You were unconscious for about six days.” My father finally replies.
Well, there goes what I thought that I knew about dread. Compared to the amount of dread I am now feeling, a minute ago is like a drop in the ocean. With my will being steadily drained, I find that it is becoming harder and harder to concentrate. I sit back into the bed as my mind is consumed with desperation as I delve into the well of memories.
The very last thing that I remember is some giant gas guzzling behemoth of a truck comes flying around the corner, easily four times the low-speed limit of the city road. The person who hit me must have some money, though. With gas prices as high as ten dollars a gallon it is extremely unusual to see cars like those outside of displays and car shows. I myself drove an old electric car built in 2017, though that was unimportant, and I suppose completely totaled.
A couple nurses come rushing in, checking me, and asking me questions, but it all passes in a daze. It is almost an hour of questions and tests before something knocks me out of my stupor.
Entering with a knock, the doctor appears to be just about the average for male doctors everywhere. Medium height, medium weight, and just a rather forgettable face. The only defining thing about him is the air of pity and grief that comes with terrible news.
“Hello, my name is Dr. Jay Adams. You are indeed Davin Benjamin, correct?”
“Hello, I am indeed Davin Benjamin, although I would prefer if you call me Davin.”
“Okay, Davin, I have some very serious news. In the accident the nerves in your lower back were severed and in the time it took to cut you out of your car, the function could not be restored to your legs and feet.”
There it was. The terrible news that I knew was coming. Even just confirming what I already knew was a blow to the gut. I just felt like deflating. I fell back into the bed with a muffled thump, barely able to hold myself together. A glance towards my parents showed me that they weren’t far off.
“There is some better news in all of this. The person that hit you admitted that they were indeed at fault and caused the accident, and were very, for lack of a better term, rich. They have agreed to pay for all of your medical bills, for the hospital stay, and any ensuing operations because of the crash.”
Well, at the very least I don’t have to worry about draining all the money my parents have. We could, of course, try to take this on in court. They have admitted that it was their fault and they are trying to help out the aftermath. I don’t think of myself as a particularly vindictive person, but they just ruined my whole life. Though I suspect that not much would come of it considering they are rich.
“There is another option to being immobilized from the waist down for the rest of your life, but it would have some serious drawbacks.”
A faint hope then. Though these drawbacks would have to be serious indeed to lead with them. I suppose clinging to the only thing that could possibly see me walking again is better than nothing.
“There is a company called V.W.I., which stands for the Virtual World Initiative. They have been developing an alternate virtual space where people can go about their lives in an environment like that of the modern era. Many people that have been living in such a space successfully for many years now. No problems have come up with anyone stationed inside the virtual space.”
I have heard of this company, even applied for an internship there, but I had been rejected. A meshing of biological innovation with technology that is near inconceivable. “So, what’s the catch?” I ask.
Dr. Adams contemplates for a moment about how to word his next sentence, and in my experience with doctors, that is never a good sign. “Well, you see, once you are inside of this virtual reality, there is no way to get out.”
Oh. Well. That is a rather serious drawback. One that I don’t think I will be able to take. Even if I am forever immobilized, I don’t think I could just up and leave my family.
As the doctor looks down at his clipboard, he starts to read from the page, “A new and exciting adventure awaits those that are willing to sign up for our new and latest beta test. In a world of magic, all things are possible, though you will have to seek those possibilities yourself. We are looking for those that yearn for more than a virtual recreation of our world, and we would like for you to join us in this.” He clears his throat before continuing, “With that boring spiel out of the way, they are offering a few benefits that would help entice people into this new simulation. A year after joining, a person of your choice will also be able to join free of charge, and any further family members will also get heavy discounts on their services.”
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That does indeed make it better. If there was a chance that I could never see my family again, I wouldn’t even dream of taking it. “What if I didn’t want to stay in this testing world?”
“Well, it says here that after a month-long trial, you will have the chance to return to the real-life simulation, free of charge, and with all benefits attached.” He takes a breath before continuing, “I have referred many patients to V.W.I., and in talking with them I think that this is a genuinely good offer. In my professional opinion, this has the highest chance of seeing you happy in the long run.”
“Would I be able to still talk with my family before they could join me?”
“Assuming that their systems are the same, you will have full ability to communicate with them, just as people in the real-life simulation are able to. Now, I think it is best to leave this with you,” he takes a packet off of his clipboard and leaves it resting on my legs, “and it is time to give you all some space to talk. I am only a button press away if you need me, though there should be some more nurses in here in an hour to check on you.”
With that, he walks out of the room and down the hall. Looking to my parents, my mom is the first to crack. With tears streaming down here face she says, “We will always support you in any way that we can. You have come a long way since we took you in, and I don’t know if I could look at myself in the mirror if I did something that could stop you from being happy.” Her sobbing intensifies as she steps forward to embrace me.
My dad speaks next, “Son, if this is what you want to do, we will come with you. There isn’t exactly all that much out here for us, and you know that you mean the world to us.” He walks around to my other side and joins me and mom in our hug. We all just sit there quietly for a while, not really moving or talking. Eventually, they get up to leave, and say that they are going to go home for the night and come check on me in the morning. They hadn’t been home since I had been in the accident, though it did take a lot of prodding on my part to get them to go home and rest. It took the most effort to convince my mom, but she eventually relented.
The nurses did eventually return, but like before, it was as if I was in a daze, because I can’t remember a single event that occurred in this time. They came to the conclusion that I was as well as I could be, and soon I was left alone with just my thoughts.
None of us have any particularly close friends or family, so I don’t see the point in bringing up how this big change could affect these relationships. Nobody has really ever become close to me in school so that on a good day I have barely a handful of friends. In that aspect, I suppose that I am like my parents. The closest friends they have are the neighbors up and down the street.
Not that none of us would be missed, just that it would fade much quicker than if we had been more known. My mom and dad were all that I really had since I was about 6. They adopted me from a horrible situation, and everything had been better since. With that thought on my mind, I ended up crying myself to sleep.
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The next few days were a whirlwind of activity, though not so much activity on my part. My parents came to stay with me, looking much better from having gone home, and they were there dawn till dusk every day until I was released. Generally, they have a nurse or aid roll you out in a wheelchair, but my father insisted on taking on that role, and they relented.
Gone were the days where I could do anything on my own, at least until I adjusted to my new accommodations. Eating meals with my family was nice, though having to use the bathroom and shower were much less pleasant. My father, the ever-stoic man that he was, never commented on it. We sort of just fell into a routine without ever noticing it, with the days passing by in a flash, and before I even knew it, it had been two months since the crash.
The packet burned a hole in my mind every night, sitting a few feet away on my desk. I hadn’t returned to college in that time, partly because I think I had made up my mind before even leaving the hospital. I was going to join this program, and my family would join me when they could.
My mother was saddened by my decision, but what mother wouldn’t be, not being able to ever again see your son in the world of the living? But we moved past it. A new passion burned within me, and I started preparing myself.
All in all, there was much less fanfare than I thought there would be over me moving into this virtual world. Life went on for some weeks until my spot was readied. They had to be extremely precise with the tuning of the capsule, otherwise, many, many, many problems could occur.
To make sure that as few as possible occur, I was taken in for a multitude of tests to find out specific aspects of my physical body. One of the rather interesting aspects of the capsule is that everyone has a finely tuned formula fed to them to keep their body alive. It has to be individualized so that everyone has their needs met. All people are different, so it should be rather obvious that everyone will need a new formula. There are archetypes for the formula base so that it doesn't have to be modified too much. Another interesting aspect of the capsule is that your body will grow and shrink according to your diet inside. Muscles are also stimulated so that people can actually gain muscle. They said that this was all so that if they ever develop a way out for those inside so that people will not feel uncomfortable in their own bodies.
While the science behind all of this is a rather complicated, I was able to understand what they were talking about in layman terms. One of the things that I could not understand about the capsule is how they implemented a system for exercising the body. With electrical impulses the capsule simulates all movement so that the body will grow muscle, is the basics of it. They also have a tube to feed the body. Nutrient intake will change the diet of the inhabitant. This has a negative cap though so that people will not lose time off their lives due to eating terrible with no exercise. On the other side of this, there is not a positive cap. If all of the interaction is positive and will either prolong the life or at the very least not shorten the life of the inhabitant it will be fed through the tube to the body.
When I asked them why they did this, they said that once they find a way to safely disconnect someone, they will not be uncomfortable in their body. The inhabitants’ body will reflect what they do inside the virtual space. When someone walks into one of the capsule centers you can see a list of the grants and donations they have received by amount, and the U.S. government is very high on the list. Personally, I think that this would be an extremely easy way to train troops except for the whole part that they would not be able to leave once they have completed the training.
All the pods are custom built. They have to have rather exact measurements, or the person inside would die. No one knows what will happen when someone eventually does. The only tests that they have conducted that involved the death of the experimentee was when they first tried the forceful disconnect. This project may not be public knowledge, but many hours of online research into very boring reports of the company shows some results. Not many, but enough to see that it has been safe thus far and unless an unforeseeable catalyst occurs, not much will change. Once they measured me and formulated the average growth rate, they sent the capsule order form to their labs so that they can build it.
Two weeks are the only thing in between me and walking again. While this certainly isn’t the most interesting aspect of where they offered to take me, it will be one of the most joyous ones for me. Ever since I had become self-sufficient, I always took care of myself. Needing help now is just embarrassing.
I was not idle during this time, though. I refreshed myself on anatomy, biology, and how to properly harvest animal products from them. When I was younger my grandpa was an avid hunter. I went with him a few times, so it helped to know someone who had been doing it for a good portion of their life. It is still rather gut wrenching to look at the fluffy little rabbits and the other cute animals. It was all for the greater good, though. I would need to learn of all this sooner or later.
While all of this will not be immediately necessary, it will be good to learn all of this in the long run. To be fully self-sufficient I will need to be able to make all of the items that could be sold for anything that I can’t make. I don’t even know where I will be put in this new world.
They can tell me about how far along with technology they are, though. They should be around the level of being able to forge basic steel and have very little in the way of machinery. I could use that to my advantage if I ever figure out how too.
Time was running out, and most of my last week was spent with my family. I promised to talk to them every day, and I didn’t know if I was truly ready for this myself. The day did eventually arrive, and we all packed up to go to their center. My parents were with me the whole time, not leaving my side until the capsule closed around me.