An eternity, exploited, trapped in the facsimile of bliss, forgetting all traces of our identity, to chase the intoxicating cycle of upward bliss and downward crash to the unforgiving ground, shedding tears only to make the inevitable ascend to happiness all that much sweeter.
Nothing less than a mockery of our way of life, all to serve them, to repay them for their unwanted aid, and then, they dare fancy themselves in self-satisfaction for bringing the most savage realm to their knees.
Self-serving hypocrites, nothing but scourges of the world, all wrapped in pretense to justify their own existence.
--
The last thing Izabel remembered was a flood of white, and under the same flood of white did she opened her eyes.
Likely a medical facility, considering what had happened. She sat up, and as her vision clears, she saw the door leading outside, the walls all around the room decorated with something she could only describe as a colorful, Primeras-inspired artwork. To Izabel, it looked a little juvenile, but then again, it was said that those who chose to take the Primeras’ side would be granted happiness, one that would surpass anything else they would have ever experienced, until none of their senses would taste anything else.
Blissful, the world had always made her sick. Did no one else realize the cage they were locked in?
On a more thorough look, the place seemed undamaged. The usual, nauseating perfection she was familiar with was all there, and not even a speck of dust marred the place.
A little disappointment welled up, much as she tried to suppress it. Of course, the dream of unshackling herself from this dreary existence prioritized on happiness was a farce.
“Tempering your expectations is all well and good, but do be careful, or you’ll risk destroying your own motivations.”
Izabel’s train of thoughts ended there, replaced by shock as she almost jumped back before she could slip into a downward spiral. Hunter was peeking from the corner of the bed, intangible body passing through everything else. In this state, though her dignified tone remains, the same could not be said about her appearance as half a head poking out of the bed.
“Wait, you really are real—”
“Yes, I am, and for your information, what we both saw was real, though from the looks of it, they’re quick to clean up.”
Hunter glanced at the door, still closed for the time being.
“They likely have some ways to track your current state, so chances are, they’ll be coming soon. Remember, I can read your thoughts, so no need to talk directly.”
Izabel looked at the door for a few seconds, and when nothing walked in, she asked Hunter, “So, what are you?”
“A companion assigned to you by the developer of Heart Mirror, or as the app stated, I am a Mirror Avatar. My assignment is to guide you and provide you with the means to fight the Primeras. If you still remember holding my weapon,” Hunter conjured a familiar-looking pistol in her hand, “That is the base form of the power I gave you. There’s more, but this is not a good time for a demonstration. Maybe later.”
“No, that is not my question. I get it, you are my companion, but what kind of thing are you?”
“That is… a difficult question. Let me see… I think the closest description in your language would be ‘a collection of thoughts and power connected to you’. Mirror Avatars are simply companions assigned to assist by the creator of the app, and we have a similar goal, that is, defeating the Primeras. I assist you with powers and abilities, while you interact with the world in my stead. A beneficial agreement for us both, don’t you think?”
“Fair point. As for you, I think considering what I know, you’re likely similar to one of those robots, except with a human form and you can only speak to me.”
“That is a reasonable guess.” Hunter nodded.
“Are there really a thousand people with this app?”
“As far as I know, yes, and most likely all share the sentiment of disliking the Primeras’ rule. No wonder, considering their modus operandi,” Hunter replied, then she looked at the door. “Oh, it looks like they’re here. Pretend like you don’t remember about what happened before you lost consciousness. I’m not sure on how they do things here, but that should be a safe bet…”
Hunter trailed off, and her form faded from Izabel’s view. Before she could ask, the door was opened, and a familiar-looking machine entered the room. It was one of the machines assigned to monitor the happiness of the populace, and a few would be dispatched to the area of someone whose coefficient dropped below a certain threshold.
Aside from its head, which was designed to mimic a cat complete with decorative expressive eyes and ears, Izabel noted that rather than think it was cute, she thinks it looked rather uncanny, though, she noted there was an attempt of making it somewhere close to cute.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
[Hello! I see that you are feeling well, but it never hurts to ask. Do you experience any discomforts or pain?]
Here goes. How about you check it yourself?
…
Wait. Izabel remembered the numbers, and out of habit, she glanced at the device strapped to her wrist.
[Happiness: 91/100]
[You seem happy, there is no need to worry!]
Another message appeared in front of her eyes, clearly sent by the robot.
“I’m not in any pain, nor am I feeling any discomfort.”
[Are you sure? Then, perhaps I can be of assistance?]
“Get me some cake, then?”
[Your tracker indicates that 215 system days have passed since your last treat. Request approved.]
With that, the robot exited the room, leaving the two of them alone again. As the door closed, Hunter reappeared, her expression serious, “Seems like they didn’t notice.”
“Notice what?”
“That tracker on your wrist. I noticed that it tracks your current feelings, and I’ve observed it fluctuate after yesterday’s incident. I don’t know how the numbers change while you are unconscious, but yesterday, it goes up and down with your feelings, while now, despite what you were thinking about, it was relatively stable. The lowest I saw it go down to was 88 as of now.”
“You can’t check while I was asleep?”
“No, it seems that when you fall asleep, I follow suit. Makes sense, considering my consciousness is linked to yours.”
“So, in other words, we know your… existence have several rules. One, I’m the only one who could see and hear you, two, you can read my mind, three, you can’t know what happens while I am unconscious, and four, your only form of physical interaction with everything around us is providing me with a weapon?”
“Precisely.” Hunter said. “Back to the matter at hand, it seems like they’re unaware that you didn’t forget the events of yesterday. For now, it seems we’re safe, but I don’t think we can linger here.”
“True, we still don’t know a lot, but on the plus side, looks like neither do they. Though, what’s up with the incident yesterday?” Izabel asked.
“I have a theory, but there is not enough evidence or information. Perhaps later.”
Right as the two were thinking, Izabel felt a beep from the device on her wrist. The moment she touched on the mail icon displayed on the screen; a message was projected in front of her.
[Subject: Welcome!]
[From: CORDIS#404]
[Welcome to Heart Mirror! Have you familiarized yourself with the app, and perhaps talked with your assigned Mirror Avatar? I understand that you have some questions, and I will do my best to answer them. Please open the attachment as soon as you are ready.]
[Attachment: CORDIS-app]
[PS: Do not open the attachment while you are in a public place, or that will be the last thing you ever did. You have been warned!]
Izabel stared at the warning.
“Are they sure this kind of warning will prevent people from doing just that? Personally, I would have tried it if this situation wasn’t so...”
“Strange?” Hunter offered, “I can’t say for sure, but I think the other Mirror Avatars would discourage such an experiment. After all, there must be a reason for such a warning.”
Izabel supposed that was a reasonable explanation.
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. As Izabel requested, she was given a cake by one of the assisting robots, though as she had expected, there was only a little frosting and chocolate. Knowing that complaining would send the robot on a spiel about the importance of health and how long lives would give us happiness. That word again, it’s almost like the Primeras wanted to make her puke with one word.
“Heh, that makes two of us, but since I don’t have a physical body, I have nothing to expel.” Hunter said. Her form was not visible, it seems like she preferred not to appear when the care machine is here.
Izabel tried to ignore the comment as she took a bite of the cake, and then asked, “Considering I’m pretty alright now, can I be returned to my habitation unit?”
The robot’s eyes lit up, literally, and a beam of light passed over her.
[Scanning… Please wait]
[Izabel Viator: Condition currently stable, and a return to the habitation unit is permitted.]
[It seems that you have missed your living space. We will arrange for a transportation unit to come pick you up as soon as possible. You can bring your treat back, just deposit it to your habitation unit’s system chute when you are finished.]
“That was quick, thank you,” Izabel replied.
With that, the robot turned around and went out of the room, leaving the two of them alone again.
“Honestly, chances are they have eyes back at the unit too, but on the other hand, I think it’s still a better place to open that file than here,” Izabel said.
“No, I agree that we should move. Look at the lights.” Hunter replied. “Look at it closely, did you see the device they placed on it? It’s the same white as the light, and the glare from being so close to a light source might make it a little less effective, but chances are, if they are placing it in that spot, that factor is not going to hinder them.”
It was tiny, almost unnoticeable due to the colors being like the light around it. However, following Hunter’s line of sight, Izabel saw a small device, its color similar to the room and the light that, were it not for the tiny lens, she would not notice. Izabel remembered that this wasn’t her first time in this room, as she had been taken here when her happiness number went too low, but this was the first time she had noticed the device.
Now that she thought about it more, even her living unit always has some kind of listening or surveillance device. It would be odd if this room, where they brought in people who were declared as troubled, didn’t have one.
[Transport unit for Izabel Viator will arrive in approximately 1 minute.]
“Let’s go, we shouldn’t linger.”
As Izabel walked into the waiting transport, she noticed that, as Hunter said, the area all around them had turned back to normal. There was no trace of destruction, no trace of talks about it, and all the damage has been repaired.
If Hunter was not here, perhaps, she too would have considered the events of yesterday a mere dream.
--
As she arrived at her living unit, the room lit up, along with the device on her wrist.
[Heart Mirror system is synchronizing with your living quarters, please wait…]
“Oh? Talk about convenient,” Hunter nodded and gave a small smile of approval.
Izabel noticed that there was something beautiful, something genuine in that smile. After all, so far, she had never seen Hunter smile before.
“What is it, Hunter?”
“You’ll see in a bit.”
Izabel got her answer in the form of the whole space darkening, black spots bleeding out from corners until the room was painted in pure, solid, and glossy black. For a few moments, the solid black remained, painting over all the light and everything else in a featureless, dark mass.
Unsettling was perhaps the most accurate word to describe it.
In a few seconds, the dark mass crept back into the corners of the room.
[Synchronization complete]
[Masking feature added. While you are in this unit, any data derived from your presence will be spoofed]
“Basically, it’s a feature to let you hide from the constant watch of the Primeras. A simple, but convenient feature regardless,” Hunter said. “For example, even if you talk to me out loud here, they can’t hear it from their pervasive systems. Why not open the message here too, while you’re at it?”
Right. Izabel opened the message again, and then, she stared at the provided button for a moment. There was a feeling of thrill, an alluring sweetness from a semblance of freedom, the breaking of invisible shackles that bound her since she was old enough to remember.
As the feelings swelled with each second, she pressed the button.