The Human Experiment

Chapter 1               Darkness overtook everything.  That was alright.  In a moment she would be with all the things she created.  It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.  She had initially found the journey disorienting but once she got the hang of it, it was easier to acclimate.             The surrounding was fuzzy at first before coming into focus.  It was all a part of the process.  The system had to form a connection with a person’s synapsis.  A process that was uncomfortable until she got used to it.  In the beginning it was an uncomfortable pressure that sat solidly inside her skull.  Now, it was more like a drop in altitude pressure.  Brief and less unsettling.              It was night inside her construct this time.  A smile of wonder spread across her face.  It had freshly rained bring forth a cleansing scent with the evening breeze.  The buildings were lit up with colorful electronic billboards.  The streetlights cast a soft yellow glow that mixed with the clashing colors reflected in the puddles.  It was beautiful and exactly as she had pictured it when she had written the scene.  There was something so romantic about the start of the twentieth century.  Maybe it was because she would never be able to see this sight firsthand.  Things had changed so much in the last 300 years.  The simplicity of it had been replaced with so much technology that the past was seen as archaic in comparison.  The advances weren’t bad or anything.  Afterall, it was because of those strides that she was able to stand there at all.  Well, she was kind of standing there in a way.             A soft beep coming from her wrist drew her eyes away from the slick street.  Bringing her arm up the counter lit up on the holographic image that imitated the band she was wearing outside of the program.  Tapping on the side of the screen it started her time.  She had set up a twelve-hour session this time.  She had taken a day from work just to spend the hours working on her writing instead of answering calls for a shift.  Her writing wasn’t making her anything monetarily yet, but she refused to give up hope that it would change one day.  The construct helped.  She wrote several chapters in advance just for this chance.  It was becoming a habit.  Perhaps if she was more confident in her abilities, she wouldn’t come there to double check it all with her own eyes.  After the counter started up the still life came to life.  People bustled about the street going about their background character lives as they were supposed to.  They weren’t the focus of the piece.  Story fodder really.  Turning her attention to the dive bar behind her she waited for the love interest to appear.  He did not disappoint.  The door opened allowing tall dark and handsome to walk out.  He was mysterious, brooding, and a lead guitarist.  She nearly swooned over her character herself.  He turned out just as she had imagined him.  A perfect cross between James Dean and Jason Priestley, the young adult years of course, mash up.  While he was walking out a young woman was heading in.  Her main character.  A young woman down on her luck waiting tables to pay the rent while singing at live mic nights hoping to be discovered.  She was down on her luck and struggling to get by.  Meanwhile chasing the dream to make it.  She was pretty in that girl next door kind of way.  Blonde hair messily piled onto her head and held up by a pen.  Shoulders drooping in exhaustion after a long shift.  The smell of fried food a perfume that followed her.  She bumps into him pulling his baby blues up to her face.  A smirk pulling at his lips as the main character fumbles with an apology.  Reaching up he brushes a stay lock out of the woman’s face to be tucked behind her ear.  The scene was perfection.  Just as it was supposed to be.  Pride filled her chest as she watched the interaction between her characters. “What is this crap?”  Startled her head whipped to the side looking at the man standing beside her.  She had never seen him before.  Had never created this character.  He was scrutinizing the pair she had been watching moments ago with a sneer on his pale, pasty face.  His dark hair was badly cut leaving random hanks sticking up at odd angles in the back of his head.  His dark eyes narrowed in disgust behind his thick rimmed glasses that were held together with tape.  His clothing hung from his scrawny frame revealing the fact that there wasn’t an ounce of muscle on him.  No.  She hadn’t created this person at all. “Who are you?  How did you get in here?”  Turning his smug angular face towards her. “Why would you pick such a horrible time to visit for your fantasy?” “You can’t be here.  These constructs aren’t meant to be shared.  I don’t know how you got in here, but you can leave now.”  Turning away from him she hoped he would heed her words.  If he didn’t, she was fully prepared to press the emergency button to pull out and report him.  He hadn’t given her a name.  He was unique looking enough she was sure that security would be able to find what room he was in.  Instead of going away he cackled.  Cringing at the sound she turned to confront him again.  A commotion drew her attention back to the scene at the front of the bar.  She nearly cried out in dismay.  Her plot line had somehow been altered.  Where the two main love interests were supposed to be building a connection they were now fighting.  Her swoon worthy character throws out some nasty slur at the main character causing the young woman to sock him in the face.  The chaos wasn’t contained to only the two characters.  It had spread to the entire place.  Angry shouts rang out as background characters broke out in meaningless fights.  The violence slowly escalated around her as she turned in a circle taking it all in.  The height of the hate hit just as a shot sounded echoed closely by screams of fear. “That’s our cue.”  Before she could even comprehend his words, he grabbed her arm yanking her with him through space.  One second, she was standing on the streets of the year 2000.  Next, she found herself inside what could only be the lobby of a hotel after being pulled through the darkness. “What did you do?”  She points an accusatory finger at him still fuming over her wrecked work.  Holding his hands up he takes a step back to keep a safe distance between them. “You could have been hurt.  I saved you.” “Saved me?  You ruined everything!  You destroyed my plot line.  Do you know how long it took me to write that scene?”  “You’re a writer?  Why would you write a riot breaking out?”  Biting back a scream she clenched her fists at her sides.  The need to punch him was building every time he opened his mouth. “I’m a historical romance writer.  I didn’t write whatever that was.  You wrecked it.” “I didn’t do anything to your construct.  I swear.  What would I have to gain by doing that?” “I don’t know!  Maybe you’re an author too and my competition.”  Instead of taking her seriously he broke down laughing.  His hysterics caused him to bend at the waist as he wiped tears from his face.  Whomever this was he was entirely aggravating.  Looking around she tried to figure out how to get back to her story so she could fix it before the whole file corrupted.  The place was eerie and quiet.  There was no other person around.  Computer generated or otherwise.  She was completely alone with a man she’d never seen before now.  It was not a situation she wanted to be in.  “I’m not any writer unless were talking about writing code.  That was funny though.”  As he caught his breath, she brought her wrist up to her eyeline.  At this point she didn’t care who he was or how he did what he did.  She simply wanted out and to report him.  He didn’t appear worried as he watched her press the panic button on her holographic band.  A smug smile settled on his features as he crossed his arms.  Glaring at him she tried again.  Still nothing.  Panicking now she began to continuously press the button while glancing around nervously.  He started to laugh at her when it was cut short as the room shifted.  The sterile acclimation room settled around her as she breathed a sigh of relief. “Hey!”  The sound of his voice in the room with her shocked her.  Whipping her head to the sound she was surprised to find he wasn’t the only one in the construct with her.  She thought she counted six other people before the world shifted again. This time she found herself alone which calmed her briefly.  Unfortunately, she was no longer in the acclimation room.  Nor was she back in the vacant lobby.  She hadn’t been replaced back to her original program either.  At this point she didn’t even care anymore she just wanted out of the system completely.  Not sure what had caused the problem it was clear she now had a big problem.