Chapter 24 - Fixing Everything

I wake up in my bed. The constellations on my ceiling have vanished. I get up and walk over to my window and look out over the city. I let the computer pick my clothes and walk into the kitchen. My eggs and toast are waiting for me. Nia is sitting waiting for me.

“I miss mom making us breakfast.” Nia tells me.

“I miss that too.” I tell her even though it only happened with me a couple of times. I sit down and eat. Nia just stares at me.

“Are you going to just keep staring at me?” I ask her.

“I’m just anxious to get all this over with.” Nia says.

“It will be over soon enough.” I tell her. I causally eat my breakfast and then we take a walk until we come to the museum. Once inside Nia knows exactly where to go and I have to keep up with her. Soon we are in the room where the AI is supposed to be.

“What do we do now?” Nia asks.

“I don’t know” I tell her. After a few minutes we hear a voice.

“Welcome Katy, I’ve been waiting for you.” The voice says. It’s the same thing it has said to me each time I’ve been here.

“I want the future where humanity starts over” I interrupt the computer.

“That option has already been selected, please choose again.” The voice tells me.

“Then I want the future with simple technology.” I ask again.

“That option has also already been selected, please choose again.” The voice continues.

“I want the future with amazing technology.” I say even though we are already there.

“That option has also already been selected, please choose again.” The voice continues.

“I want the future with limited technology.” I ask as more of a question rather than a answer.

“Take this and upload it in the past.” The computer says. A thumb drive appears along with a time cube.

“But’s that’s the Doctor’s future.” Nia tells me, “The future where I’m dead.”

“But we can use the time cube to go back in time. We don’t have to upload the information.” I tell her.

I grab her hand and look into one of the tiny holes. There is a flash of light and when our sight returns to us....

We are in the computer room in the project building. The Doctor is here and he is busy uploading something.

“What are you doing?” Nia asks the Doctor.

“I’m choosing the future I want.” The Doctor says, “You’re too late.”

“You mean too late to upload this” I tell him as I show him the thumb drive.

“Give me that.” He orders me.

“You want the future with amazing technology.” I tell him, “but this will take you back to your future.”

“I will not go back to my future.” The doctor says as he starts walking toward me, “Now give me that.”

“Come and get it.” I tell him as I exit the room and start running. The doctor runs past Nia and follows me. The Doctor catches up to me and snatches the thumb drive out of my hand.

“I won’t have you changing the future.” He tells me. He takes out a time cube and grabs my hand and looks into one of the tiny holes. There is a flash of light and when our sight returns to us.....

We are standing in the middle of a woods. There are no buildings anywhere except for the project station.

“What happened?” He demands, “What did you do?”

“While you were chasing me Nia uploaded the future we wanted.” I explain.

“You tricked me!” The Doctor says, “Now we’re stuck here. Do you realize what you’ve done? We’re the last two people on Earth.”

“I won the game.” I tell the Doctor triumphantly.

“No. You didn’t. I did.” a voice says from behind me. I turn around and it’s Jake.

“What do you mean you did?” I ask.

“You almost won. You played a good game but just not good enough.” He says.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“I’m the other player in the game.” Jake explains, “The game really screws with your mind but you have to admit it was pretty amazing.”

“I thought I was playing the game by myself?” I said.

“That’s what the game wanted you to believe. It really messes with your head until you don’t know what to believe but once I realized that you were a real person, it was easy. I gave you the future you wanted and then convinced you to change it to the future I wanted.” He explained.

“This is what you wanted?” I asked him, “What about Nia?”

“Nia is just a character controlled by the simulation.” He says, “You have to admit this game was fun.”

“Yeah, but I hate losing.” I tell him.

“Why don’t you let me make it up to you?” He offers.

“What do you have in mind?” I ask.

“Take a walk with me in the real world and I’ll show you.” He says. I think it over. He’s kind of cute in the simulation but I have no idea what he looks like in real life. Should I really take a chance?

“Okay.” I decide.

“Great. Just tell me I won and the game will end.” He says. I’m about to say it but then something occurs to me.

“No. You tell me I won and the game will end.” I say back as I fold my arms.

“That’s not how it works.” He tells me.

“I think you’re lying.” I tell him, “I think I really did win the game and you’re just trying to make me think I didn’t.”

“Neither one of you won the game.” A voice says behind me. Both Jake and I turn around and it’s Nia, “I’m the one who won. I played all three of you.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask her.

“There are really four players in the game. You, Jake, the Doctor, and myself. Once I realized there were four possible outcomes in the game I knew there had to be four players. Each one of us were trying to decide a different outcome. The Doctor wanted the future with amazing technology. You wanted the future with simple technology, Jake wanted the future with limited technology, and I wanted to start over.” Nia explains.

Jake and the Doctor look at Nia with their mouths open. None of us realized Nia was a player in the game.

“Don’t feel bad, I’ve had a lot of experience playing the game. None of you even stood a chance against me.” Nia boasts.

“I don’t know what to say.” I tell her.

“I don’t know what to say either.” The Doctor says.

“Well, better luck next time I guess.” Jake offers.

“Oh luck has nothing to do with it.” Nia explains, “This is a strategy game.”