“THE WORLD IS BEING BRAINWASHED I TELL YO——”
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“DAMIEN LET ME JUST SAY THIS, THIS GAME IS A DANGER TOO SOCIETY.”
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“THE BENEFITS ARE ENDLESS, JUST LAST NIGHT I ——”
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“ WHY NOW, WHAT IS HASHIMOTO PLANNING WITH THIS GAME, AND HOW DID HE GET CLEARANCE TO RELEASE IT TO THE ENTIRE WORL——”
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Matthew stared back at the dark reflection of himself from the tv in the corner of his mechanic shop.
“They just keep coming,” he said to himself. It had been nothing else than news of this new VR game called the Beginning of the Beginning. It allowed you to insert yourself into another person's life, for a day, or for an entire lifetime, in a single night. And the craziest thing was it included past people as well. Just the thought of something so crazy that it was beyond science fiction. Matthew knew he wasn’t smart enough to comprehend how it functioned. He was sure no one else on the planet was aware of how it was possible, other than the man himself, Hashimoto Kunimaro. In the beginning, Matthew was shocked, but now he is even getting concerned as his father uses the damn thing all day instead of watching his usual TV time. That was when he realized this thing was really something else. His father wouldn’t get off the damn thing. The thought of others seeing each other’s lives didn’t make him worried. People could do what they wanted. Although his father had seemed slightly happier the one time, he actually took the damn thing off his head. Of course there had been no talk about it, though their rarely was.
Vrooommmmm Vrooommmmmmm.
Matthew turned around, already knowing what had rolled into his shop. The sound of the engine, and the smell of the exhaust. One of his favorite cars. The Daytona 84, a classic in all regards.
“Matthew, it’s been a while,”
Matthew could recognize the voice from anywhere, the way its deep sonder tone swept through the air with the confidence of a man who had earned it through years of work. It could be no other person than Daton, and only Daton drove a Daytona 84, anyway.
“Yes, it has mister Daton. Life been treating you good,” Matthew said as he moved toward his tools on the other side of the shop. Only one other car was in his shop at the moment. Business had been much slower these last couple of weeks. He had an idea why.
“Well,” Daton paused, probably thinking if he should just say great, and get on with it or truly answer. “Yeah, it’s been going pretty good,” He finally said, a smile on his face that only looked half forced.
“Now what happened to this beauty” Matthew said as he moved toward the car. It was beautiful in everyway. Matthew had always had a thing for cars. Ever since he was a small boy. Didn’t really know why, and he didn’t even really like driving them. He just liked cars.
“Well, Ive been driving a lot more recently since well the time just seemed to clear in the schedule I guess,” Daton said, “but with the much longer drives, I could feel her slightly struggling this past week.”
“I understand. This beauty deserves the smoothness that she exudes,” Matthew said.
“Haha damn right she does,” Daton said smiling “You get it Matthew,”
Matthew smiled back
“Well, alright, ill let you know what’s up later today when I’ve given it a spin and looked at it, but shouldn’t take more than a couple days,”
“Perfect, would really appreciate it if you could fix it faster than usual, ill pay extra.” He said with a smile.
“No need Mister, but don’t worry, ill have it fixed right up for you,”
The Man smiled, and we shook on it. He left shortly after.
Matthew left out a sigh of relief, alone in his shop again. Finally, something to do. He wasn’t the best at just sitting around thinking all day, and without another thought to it. Matthew went to work.
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This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The door creaked, heavy as always. The darkness of the room didn’t surprise him as he walked through the room. He didn’t even have to look to see his father strapped up to his favorite tv chair. He went to the kitchen and opened the fridge, cold air hitting him in the face. Matthew could feel his anger rise. He looked behind the shelves as he thought they were gone. He looked toward his father. Still, almost like he was dead, or in a coma. There was no movement in his body other than the breathing. On the table in front of him were the two last beers. His two last bud lights. Matthew loved cars a lot. But what he loved even more was a cold beer after working your tail of all day. Something he couldn’t do today. Just as he was about to walk over to his old man, he saw a small smile form on the lips of his father.
‘Fuck this’ he thought, he took a glass from the shelf and poured some cold water. He leaned on the sink, looking toward his father. He wandered what would happen if he just ripped the device off his head. There wasn’t even a cord to power it. It was just a headset, compact at that, which covered the eyes, the head and the ears. The only thing that was left exposed was the nose and the mouth. Did that affect the taste and smell of the things in them? There were so many things he didn’t know about it. You could probably smell and taste anyway, or it would have been on the news. But how it was possible, well yet again, probably only one man knew. One man coming up with the invention of the century, not maybe even mankind. And so little was known about him. Matthew was sure he had only just gotten a Wikipedia page. Matthew thought that was pretty damn awesome, being that competent while no one knew him. Maybe that would be him with cars one day, and maybe they could have a beer.
SSSSSSSZZZZZZHHHH
Just as he was about to stop zoning out, Matthew saw the mask slowly release itself from his father’s face. It had been over a week since he had seen his father’s face. It looked alien like, with the way the side rose where his father’s ears were, and then the part covering his father’s eyes slowly lifted as well. His father did a sudden jolt, finally back in control of his body again, and started lifting his helmet off.
His father stared at him for a little too long. Like when you finally visit your favorite spot after being gone for a while. It gave him chills. His father’s eyes finally regained their color.
“Hey kiddo,” His father said to him.
A small smile came on Matthew’s lips
“Hey champ,” Matthew said “I see you drank my beers,”
“I- well this is my house!!!!” His father said suddenly, aggressive. He always found a way to get aggressive. After…..
Well, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t here anymore, anyway.
He saw his father's eyes slightly calm down again after he realised how loud he had been. His hand relaxing its grip on his armchair. Matthew sighed. His father had never recovered.
Matthew provided for everything and was paying the mortgage. His dad only had his measly monthly allowance from the government, and all that was left of that after three days were beer cans and empty cigarette cartridges. But the only thing he could do was be sad. He could never be mad at his father.
Matthew sighed.
“I’m going to make some chicken. Do you want some?”
“I — no, it’s alright, just ate actually,”
Matthew looked back towards the sink. There were no dishes.
“Alright, whatever you say dad” Matthew told his father, as he looked up and down. He had gotten slimmer. It was hard to notice when you were already on the bigger side, but he had.
Matthew began making his food, his stomach grumbling from a hard day’s work. Matthew liked a single meal in a day. It kept him focused on work, and he liked the feeling of a reward when he got home. Just as he was about to set his things and begin eating. His father rose from his chair.
“I’m going to get some sleep son, have a good day tomorrow.”
Matthew was a little bewildered. He practically slept in that thing, and it was the only thing he had been using. But indeed, his father finally left the chair, which had been imprinted with his body's frame as it slowly suctioned back to its original form.
“You do that, dad, and you too,” Matthew shouted as he realized he hadn’t replied.
He didn’t get a reply.
Matthew turned to look at the chair. No, rather what was in front of the chair, atop of the table.
There it sat, the most alien looking thing he had ever seen. When he had first heard the news of the game, he had thought it was the biggest scam ever told. When he found out it was real, well, just like everyone, it had left him flabbergasted. But now it had caught his attention. He knew someone, or maybe all of Mister Daton’s family, was using the machine with how he talked earlier, but hell, the entire planet probably was. Matthew looked back at his food and focused on getting it down.
A mechanic he was, but a cook. Not so much, but he got the protein and greens he needed.
Sadly, he now had to turn his attention back to that, he thought as he looked at it. Shiny silver, round at the top, and clear-cut edges at the bottom. What it looked like from the inside, he hadn't even seen. He had never wanted to try anyone else’s life, the thought never even accord to him. He even thought it was stupid when he found out it was real, but now. If he tried it, would he just become like his dad, or everyone else? When he wasn’t working, would he be putting that thing on his head? Trying different people at different times. The only one that he thought might be remotely interesting was hitler, and even that would only give him a glimpse into the craziness that was, well... Hitler. Eventually, Matthew couldn’t stop himself, and raised himself from the dinner table. He walked over to the table and stared at the machine.
He picked it up.
Heavy.
It was far heavier than it looked, and it also felt…. Quality. Like a quality car, no matter how new or used, would always feel robust. He smiled as he thought of the Daytona he had fixed today.
He spun the object around and looked inside. Not a single wire inside, just dark blue cushioning. He reached down and felt it. His finger just flowed down into the fabric and got caught there. It didn’t move while he tried moving it side to side. It was trapped. In the most gentle way possible. It only released when he moved the finger straight back. That was a little freaky.
There was no light on the display either. How the hell did you turn this thing on? Now he hated how nonchalant he was with everything other than his work. He could have watched a damn tutorial or something.
Then there he was sitting on the couch his father had just sat on, the thingy on his lap. He didn’t know if he should do it, but he now he was just too damn curious. Nothing had really gotten him going, not cakes, or rollercoasters or, well, anything really.
Other than cars.
That was the only thing. He almost certainly knew this couldn’t either, but if it did. Well, what would happen? Would he just be a mindless zombie drone after work like everyone else? Matthew took a deep breath. He had gotten too curious now. There was no other option. It wasn’t like it was gonna kill him or anything.
He slowly lifted the device from his lap to his head and felt it slowly slide down his head. Until he was completely enclosed, he felt the object getting closer and closer to himself, even though he didn’t feel it getting tighter. It was almost like he suddenly had on another layer of skin. It was the weirdest feeling ever.
Then light.