"I have a dream", a well known, yet overused term, but it fit my situation well: I dreamt that my grandparents and parents would wake up. Wake up of this self-induced pleasure capsule sleep.
We live in a utopia, they say. No one needs to work, every job is taken by robots and everyone can do what they want. And they did, at first, but the physical limitations of humankind stopped its greed for more. So they invented a virtual world, individual customizable for every person. Now they did not have to fear pain, did not have to stick to physical laws, were gods. Some threw in that it is not real, however, what is real, they countered. Everything we see, feel and perceive with our senses are just electrical impulses our brain sends out, so if the same signal is sent out through a machine, wouldn't that be us creating reality?
People loved it, old people could be young, lost dear ones could be recovered, dreams could be achieved safely or if they wanted to, with difficulty. Everything could be done.
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I, on the other hand, hated it, I lost my grandparents first. They entered and never returned. Their new reality seemed to have been more pleasant than ours with pain. Then my parents, my friends, everyone...
Did they not see how our government used these to limit us? To control and let us feel this fake happiness? Where is the freedom in that?
I laughed, as I pushed the last number that would set up the bomb, that would destroy the core of Alexei, the main AI for project Creating reality. I don't know how long I fought these bastards, all for this one day. To free all humans from this machine slavery. To give my life for it? A cheap price and with that I set it off. White light engulfed me.
The capsule, I was in, opened its lid and reality hit me. Crueler than ever, I tried to wipe the tears with my frail hands, only to discover that my skinny with liver spots sprinkled arms would not move. I remembered, there were no people, no family, no friends, just an old man with a dream. "Alexei", I repeated for the who knew often time, "give me a purpose".
END