The nightmare started with the stereotypical monster shrouded in darkness.
“I know this is going to hurt, but it’s for our own good,” it said, staring at me with its glowing blue eyes.
As someone with an overly creative imagination and crippling anxiety, I’ve had some wild nightmares in my life, but this one felt strangely different. Yes, the feelings of helplessness and doom were an all too common theme in my nightmares. I struggled as I watched the scaly hand holding a syringe filled with some sparkling silver metallic fluid approach my right eye; the needle growing ever larger in my field of view.
No, what was strange was how calm I felt. How real the dream seemed. Hell, I was still dreaming and felt awake enough to know I was in the middle of a dream. That was new. It had been years since I felt calm. Years filled with constant anxiety burning my stomach and constricting my throat; just waiting to flash into full-blown panic, making completing college a near impossible task. If a nightmare was the price for this moment of peace, then so be it. I’m on vacation after all. Time to sit back with the metaphorical bag of popcorn and let this dream do its thing.
“I remember having questions, so I expect you have some as well,” he said, pulling at the corner of my right eye and maneuvering the needle around my eyeball. Now that he was close enough to see clearly, I could tell he was definitely male. Yes, I could give a good enough description for a criminal sketch artist, but I needed to address the elephant in the room. He had scales and not the cool dragon skin kind. I mean massive psoriasis flakes peeling away from skin covered in glowing blue cracks. The glow from his eyes and cracked skin pulsed like a heartbeat.
“I remember thinking, Is this a dream? Who is it, and why? I expect you have the same questions,” he said with a final push.
I could feel a sharp crack of bone behind my eyeball and a spreading brain freeze as he depressed the plunger. I wanted to scream out in pain, but I stayed trapped as a passive observer. I pushed my will against the invisible bonds trapping me, fighting to wake up. This nightmare was officially not cool.
“First, is this real? What is real? I’m not sure if I know anymore. If this works, then I’ll have never existed, so I guess we’ll both find out if you or me are the butterfly,” he said with a manic grin.
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“Next, why you?” Pausing and looking away for a moment, he continued. “Why not? No matter what you believe right now, I know you’ll be up to the challenge; I was. My failing was I took too long to embrace my destiny; don’t repeat my mistake by delaying the inevitable.”
Plunger, fully depressed, he pulled the syringe out and set it aside. Sitting back, he continued. “Last, what did I just do to you?” Shrugging, he continued, “I guess the easiest way to explain is to tell you what happened to me and why I hope you will make different choices.”
“Let’s just say history repeats itself. I was once like you, helpless and operated on. Except that asshole didn’t tell me shit; it’s why I’m doing the villain monologue thing. I hope you, by knowing more, will make better choices.”
“In a few minutes, our story will diverge, and hopefully I’ll cease to exist. In my story, the stranger got up and left in what I could only describe as a Star Trek transporter beam. Shortly thereafter, the battle management system finished its integration and booted up. In a nutshell, it was a system designed to turn me into a soldier to fight in the Apocalypse. The system allowed me to choose a class with skills and abilities to grow stronger as I fought the monsters spilling out of the dead zone of Europe.”
“That was where it all went wrong for me. I mean, do you really think we’d make a good soldier?” He said with a familiar-sounding snort. “The real joke was they weren’t monsters from another world. They were mutants caused by radiation spilling out of the rift. By the time we learned the truth, it was too late. Most of my world was too far gone to support life.”
“Don’t make my mistake. Focus on finding and closing the rift. You’ll need to man up, get strong enough to survive the radiation, make your way through the dead zone, and close the rift. I’ve made some changes to your version of the AI. I’ve left the system open so you can build one that works for you. Mine didn’t work, and I ended up learning how to hack it. Hopefully, that will give you the head start you need.”
“We didn’t last long enough to find the exact location of the rift or how to close it. Find it, close it, and don’t make my mistakes.”
“Well, my penance is over. I’m really looking forward to nonexistence.” With that, he stepped backwards, disappearing into a field of sparkling blue lights.
System online. Welcome to the Quantum System Development Kit.
** Warning: QF radiation is too low for continued operation. Shutdown imminent. **
With that, the room dissolved into darkness, hopefully signaling that I was waking up.