Chapter 4 - Blurring of reality
I go through my morning routine. The computer picks my clothes and I eat breakfast by myself because Nia is never out on time. I meet Maddie at the bottom of the lift.
“I had a weird dream last night” I say to Maddie, “I had a dream I was still in the game.”
“What game?” Maddie asks.
“What do you mean what game, the virtual reality game we played yesterday?” I say a bit alarmed.
“You played the game without me?!?!?!?!?” Maddie says, “How could you do that?”
“I didn’t play without you, we both played. Don’t you remember?” I ask even more alarmed than before.
“No, I do remember you saying you had to do something and you would catch me later. Is that what you were doing? Playing the game without me!” She said.
“How could you know that? I told you that in the game.” I say really confused.
“You ate a corn dog, saw your sister Nia and left me. Did you go play the game with your sister Nia?” Maddie accuses.
“Maddie, That all happened in the game, except for the corn dog part.” I said, “You said you visited ancient Rome and saw gladiators.”
“Katy, how did you get past security to get into the game?” Maddie asks folding her arms.
“With these security chips.” I say. I pull out the security chips and show Maddie only the chips aren’t the same.
“Those aren’t security chips Katy,” Maddie says, “There’s no way you got past security with those.”
“But I did get past security and I did play the game” I say. I’m really confused now. Nothing is the way I remember it. Parts of the game and real life seem to be fusing together in my brain.
“Katy, There’s something wrong with you, I’ll take you to the diagnostic center.” Maddie tells me. I protest but Maddie won’t take no for an answer. Maddie takes my hand and we walk to the diagnostic center on the far side of the plaza. When I get there a woman hooks me up to this device that scans my brain. It only takes a few seconds to get the results. The woman looks at the results and calls in a doctor. The doctor looks at the results and sends me to the hospital.
I’m at the hospital for about 30 minutes before my mom arrives. The doctor and my mom have a private conversation. I’m 12 years old. Whatever is wrong with me I can handle it. I’m practically grown up already. The doctor comes in followed by my mom. She has a worried look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask the doctor.
“Well, it looks like your brain is being rewired.” The doctor says.
“What do you mean rewired?” I ask.
“Whenever we see something or taste something or feel something or smell something are brains rewire themselves. So it’s something that is happening to us all the time. The thing that has me worried is that your brain is being rewired quickly and we don’t know what the cause of it is. As a result you are going to be confused and at times reality isn’t going to make sense to you. When the process stops, your world will be very much different than it is now.” The doctor explains.
“So what you are saying is that I’m not going to know what is real.” I say.
“That’s right. We will keep you here for observation so we can monitor the activity in your brain. Your brain is being reprogrammed and we are not going to know what the end result is until it stops.” The doctor cautions.
“I understand.” So now I’m not sure of anything anymore. I don’t know what has happened to me that’s real or the result of me being “reprogrammed”. Did Maddie and I really play the game or am I just thinking I played the game? It’s all really confusing.
After a couple of hours Nia comes to see me. She looks really worried.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” She asks.
“I don’t know. I’m scared. I don’t know what’s happening to me.” I tell her.
“Well, I’m right here if you need anything.” She offers.
“Would you just stay with me for a while?” I beg, “Did you ever give Bobby your answer?”
“Answer for what?” She asks, “And who’s Bobby?”
“He asked you to the dance.” I stop myself, “Oh never mind, it’s from a memory that’s not real.” I tell her, “It must be from whatever is rewiring my mind.”
“You poor thing” Nia says looking at me with concern, “I can’t imagine what you must be going through.”
“I’m getting sleepy, would you mind staying with me until I fall asleep.” I ask.
“Of course not. I’ll be right here. I promise” She assures me. I drift off to sleep.
https://theprose.com/post/383758/chapter-3-stuck-in-the-game
https://theprose.com/post/382203/chapter-2-what-all-the-fuss-is-about