Once again I wake up. I’m on a bed frozen beneath the spinning blades of Doom. The room is quiet other than the faint sound of the whirling blades. They are spinning slower this time. 

I hear Doktor Urmind’s voice: “And now for something completely different.”

I’m somewhere or nowhere. I can’t see anything. I can’t hear anything. No smells, no taste, no feeling. I don't have a body and I can only think. Think. Think. Think. I try to remember yesterday.

* I woke up. 

* I went to the temple. 

* I met Tim. 

* I met Doctor Urmind.

* I was walking to wake-me-up shop with the Doktor. 

* I stopped to think about things and lost sight of the Doktor. 

* I gave up and went back to my to-do list. 

* I woke up under the spinning blades again. They don’t seem so frightening anymore. 

* I heard the Doktor say something. 

Now I’m here. 

Now what?

Am I dead? 

Did the gods pull me out of my body and drop me? 

Is Doktor Urmind a god? 

How do I get out of here?

“Hello! Can anyone hear me?”

I hear several thumping sounds and then the Doktor’s voice: “Is this on? Hashi?”

"Yes… Where am I? Doktor? I can’t see anything. What’s going on?”

----------------------------------------

Somewhere else Doktor Urmind is sitting with an old style laptop typing away furiously. Many windows of scrolling text and moving graphs are on his display. He types >run scenario001 actor=hashi.

----------------------------------------

I hear the Doktor again. “Ok Hashi, you should see something in 3, 2, 1…”

I’m standing in a 10’x10’ room. The walls are light blue. The floor has light grey industrial carpeting. There are doors on two adjacent walls with little signs above them. One says [Long-winded exposition] and the other says [Screening room].

This is different. I wait for the Doktor to explain this. He’s not saying anything. Perhaps if I go through the exposition door I’ll get an explanation from him. I am curious about the screening room. Why not. Screening room it is and I walk through the doorway.

The first thing I see after passing through the [Screening Room] doorway is Doktor Urmind. He’s still wearing his leather robes and reflective goggles. He’s also holding a paper bucket in one hand and a paper cup with a straw in the other hand. “Hashi, I’m glad you chose the movie version. Have some popcorn and soda. It helps for getting the full experience. Have a seat and I’ll start the show.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I just stare at the Doktor. I really don’t know what he’s talking about. Movie, popcorn, and soda are foreign words, perhaps dwarvish as they are short little words. “Huh? Would you try again in common?”

“Food, drink, sit, watch. Is that more clear? I thought we’d watch a film together to give you some context regarding your situation.”

I take the rations from Doktor Urmind and sit down. There are two armchairs and a small table between them. Rations like mine are on the table. Across the room is a curtain over the edge of a stage.

So film means theater with actors. The stage looks small for a theater production. The light in the room dims and the curtains part revealing a silver-colored wall. I look at Urmind, who is picking white fluffy food bits and putting them in his mouth. He stops eating and says, “Look at the screen. The show's starting.”

I jump out of my chair when loud sound fills the room and a vision of a green shield emblazoned with a stylized WB fills the wall on the stage area. I brush fluffy food bits out of my chair and sit down to see the following words fill the screen: “The Matrix”.

I am entranced, disturbed, and a lot of other 'ed' words by the vision unfolding on the silver wall. The Doktor must be a high-level illusionist. I’m having trouble with this series of illusions based on many invisible observers abruptly showing their part of the story. It starts with a short skit about a high level female human monk named Trinity. She has an unarmed battle in a small room with what looks like city guards firing projectile throwers. Then she runs away. I have no idea how long these visions continued. I’m engrossed with this story about a person in a world that wakes up in another world that others call the real world. I quickly realize that the Doktor wanted me to show me this story because I am like this Neo person waking up from his life support pod. My visions didn’t include a pod and Neo’s didn’t have spinning blade traps overhead. I’m getting a headache from the loud music and sudden shifts in point of view.

Have I been living in the Matrix? Doktor Urmind dresses like this Morpheus person.

Have I been asleep in another world dreaming of training my adventuring skills?

Eventually, the sound ceases and the room brightens. I don’t understand what I’m feeling. Perhaps excited and frightened at the same time. I want my lists and some mindless activity.

I’m sitting here somewhat dazed. I’m still staring at the silver screen when the curtains close.

Doktor Urmind walks in front of me. “Pretty cool, huh? Seem a little familiar? Have any guesses about what’s going on?” Urmind asked. He grabs his chair and sets it down in front of me.

“Uh. Am I in the matrix? You’re going to pull out a little box of pills?”

“Right now there is a person jacked in and playing Hashi in the game world you are used to. Most people play the game with blah, blah… Nonstandard interface blah, blah… .” Urmind notices my dazed expression and says, “You’ll have to visit the player's world to understand your situation.” He makes some gestures with his hand and then I see some words floating in midair. 

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