Imagine if one day, you suddenly appear in such a contrasting place from where you were previously. The day where people you used to talk to happily without hesitation abruptly disappear. The day where you instantly feel helpless, now that no one, or nothing is around you.

It all just happened so fast. Seconds ago I was twisting and turning, jumping around like I was just a kid receiving my favorite toy on the holidays. Now I’m here, hearing the sound of silence, the ringing in my ears growing louder and louder as I try to seek for help, but to no avail.

The white, blinding digital box that I used to call my happiness, trapped me in its disguise. But what did I do to deserve this? What did I do that I know nothing of triggered such a heartless response from this..stupid thing?

All the thoughts jogged across my mind, as I twisted and turned around every side of this empty canvas, lost and confused instead of overjoyed like it used to be.

I stumbled around the vast emptiness of the box, tears blurring my eyes and panic making me unable to process what just happened. Eventually, the panic was able to pin me down to the ground, kneeling and letting my emotions free.

I tried to stop the endless stream of tears coming out of me, as I thought of ways to escape this hell. As the stream dwindled down to a couple drops, I sniffled and looked at the rectangular screen that was once the window where I could see my parents.

I carried myself from the cold ground, walking slowly to the bright divider. I rolled my sleeves up, keeping eye contact with the emptiness.

As I took a couple of deep breaths, I closed my eyes and set a countdown.

3…

2…

1…

I rapidly opened my eyes and charged the side of my body on the solid pane, with the goal of breaking it and finally freeing myself from the pain that felt like years.

..but it didn’t budge one bit.

I slowly raised my head in disbelief, gripping my arm, which tingled from the little dose of electricity that was sent through me by the screen. Nothing was broken. There was no mark of damage left from such a hard hit.

I let out a deep sigh before giving the screen a kick that could break a row of glass panes, but to no avail. Glitching could be seen on the area, clustering into bits before disappearing in front of my eyes.

I had my hands on my knees, trying not to fall onto the ground again. I was never this weak, I thought.

I felt disappointed in myself as I went for a round of trying to break the unforgiving divider. I didn’t care about the electricity being shot into me, getting more painful and numb as I tried so hard to break out of this box.

The tiredness kicked in. The numbing electricity was getting more bothering and agonizing to deal with. At this point I just wanted to lay flat on my back and stare at the blinding and infinite ceiling until I starve and give in to the afterlife, but this was all for my parents.

I find it stupid how I was able to trap myself in my own birthday gift. Maybe I’ll feel less stupid when I think of other ways to get out instead of..possibly breaking my bones and slowly electricuting myself.

Lay flat on the ground and think of all the possible things in life I could’ve done? Possible but..no.

Keep kicking the screen until it breaks? Now that I thought of this I’d rather choose the first option.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Commit suicide? What in the absolute fuck am I going to kill myself with? This is an empty box, Neptune.

All these plausible yet..ironically stupid to think of considering I was thinking of something smart circled around my brain as I tried to think of reasons as to why some of these ways could be done with ease. I..couldn’t think of reasons.

I slowly laid myself sideways on the freezing ground, closing my eyes as I let out a disgruntled sigh.

“ Guess there was no fucking use in being a programmer. “ I growled to myself, my finger circling one area on the ground in different paces out of boredom. “ Can’t even code shit. “

Something I said must’ve set something off, because right as I said that, I heard a small cheerful jingle play behind me. Bad timing but..this may be a sign that I have a new option to get out of here.

I looked behind me to see a glowing green panel, waiting for me to use it. I slowly got myself off the ground and dragged my slightly limp body towards the stray panel. As I realized the panel was solid, I held onto a corner and carried myself up on two feet.

I stared at the glowing green panel, figuring what to do with this thing that popped up out of nowhere.

I sighed and cleared my throat. “ ..Hello. “

“ WELCOME, NEPTUNE. PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME FAMILIARIZING YOURSELF IN THE ALL NEW: VIRTUAL REALITY EMULATOR, MODEL 6. “ The machine suddenly spoke, echoing around the room and in sync with the words that were typed out on the panel.

I was amazed with how simple this interface was. It was just voice activated, how stupid can I possibly get?

I suddenly felt like all the energy I desperately needed flooded back into me like clean water. I grinned at the thought of possible ideas and options, but that of course did not stop me from trying to call for help by calling my parents.

“ Alright uh..Vee. “ I confidently started. “ ..call my parents. “

“ … “ The machine flashed on the screen, each dot appearing one by one in a loop.

“ ERROR. CANNOT CONTACT LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE EMULATOR. “

“ Oh, for fuck’s sake! “ I hit the panel, feeling another wave of electricity, the machine spoke over me. “ PLEASE DO NOT DAMAGE THE PANEL. “

“ FUCK YOU! “ I shouted at the panel, still gripping my hand in absolute agony.

“ INVALID COMMAND. PLEASE TRY AGAIN. “

I really wanted to throw hands at this stupid, floating, unbreakable panel, but I realized that I needed to fend for myself if I really couldn’t call my parents at all.

So I started thinking..what would my parents want me to make?

I mean..they said something about a company and technology..

..I got it.

“ Make a human model, Vee. “ I commanded.

“ SUCCESSFUL. “ It responded, loading a hologram of a body. “ PLEASE CUSTOMIZE THE MODEL TO YOUR LIKING. “

“ ..No thanks. “

“ PROCESS COMPLETE. “ The machine stated with a jingle as the model came to life.

I felt like jumping everywhere as the model stood there, waiting for me to do something with it. I could just..squeal in complete and absolute joy as I looked at the plain white model, deciding what I should do with it next.

“ Hey..can I have a conversation with this thing? “ I spoke at the panel.

“ .enutpeN ,olleH “ It spoke..just weirdly and glitchy.

(Hello, Neptune.)

I was a bit confused with why it spoke in such a way, as it led me to scratching the back of my neck, trying to process the situation in front of me. I tapped the panel with my index finger, thinking of what to say that may possibly fix this issue.

I cleared my throat, still continuing to tap the panel. “ Can you perhaps..keep this model for now? “

“ FOLDER CREATED: SAVED MODELS. MODEL SUCCESSFULLY SAVED. “ It stated, seeing the model glitch out of its time outside the panel.

I kept eye contact with the glowing panel, trying to think of ways on how this thing can help me through my time in trying to survive in this box. I know that I can’t glitch through the machine-reality barrier, but I know that someday, if I stay long enough, I could possibly glitch with ease.

Yeah..sounds great. Except I need to make myself at home.

Christ, Neptune. This is a virtual machine. You have all the creative freedom you can’t have in real life..other than being uh..kept away from your parents.

“ I know I’m gonna end up killing my voice box and dry my mouth but.. “ I mumbled to myself, sighing.

“ Alright Vee. Load a model. “

“ MODEL LOADED. PLEASE CUSTOMIZE IT TO YOUR LIKING. “