Perspective Engine One

2 - Perspective : Engine One

“No!” I screamed, lurching awake. My head swirled as I lay on some sort of hospital bed. I was wrapped in white sheets, my arms tucked tightly along my sides, with a large white comforter atop me. I tried to sit up but couldn’t.

Where did those jerks bring me?

The room I had awakened in was white. Too white. The ceiling, the walls, the floors, the four fluorescent lights — all white. If there was a door, which there noticeably wasn’t, that too would’ve been white. The room was the size of my bedroom. No one else was there. And it was uncomfortably quiet.

“Hello?” I said, “hmm.”

My voice was different — it felt wrong.

I forced myself up from the bed, pulling the sheet off my and tossing the comforter aside.

I gasped.

She was a child.

Still hefty, I was always a little bigger than the rest of them, but I was a child nonetheless. I wore black scrubs without pockets, grippy socks, and a patch over the left side of my chest that read #670. I felt my face. How old was I? Twelve? Younger?

“What the f**k?!” I shrieked, my shrill pre-teen voice piercing the empty room. I stood from the bed and stepped on the white glass floor. The cold sterile room made my skin ripple with goosebumps.

Man, it’s cold! But then another realization dawned on me.

There was no pain. There was no anything. My mind was sharp and clear. I felt—

Perfect.

“What the hell is going on?” I whispered.

There was a quick beep of an intercom above.

“Good morning Madison, welcome to Perspective’s fifteenth experiment!”

“Dr. Lee?” I said, tilting my head to the ceiling. The damn psychologist sounded chipper again. Reminiscent of our first therapy session. “I trusted you! What the f**k is this?!” In that moment, swearing attached to my child-like voice made me feel like I would be scolded for the language.

“You are currently in the highest-graded therapy-based virtual reality AI system, Perspective Engine One.”

“Virtual reality?” I’d thought about getting one of those VR headsets when they were first popular. Too much standing, I decided. “Well, that explains why I’m a kid. Now tell me why I’m here.” My teeth clattered. “And turn the heat up please, I’m freezing.” I forgot what it was like to not have built-in insulation.

“You were brought here to defeat all of your mental health and physical health problems!”

How the hell could a VR headset defeat—nevermind even the thought of what the woman said was stupid. “I told you over ten years of therapy hasn’t been able to fix me. This is a waste of both our time.”

“Have you noticed how great you feel and how clear headed you are?”

Hmm... I did feel amazing. “Okay, sure, I’ve noticed.”

“Each of your afflictions have been removed from you. They have become physical manifestations that you will encounter in Perspective.” Dr. Lee said. “The VR-AI system labels them: Physma.”

In an instant the room went black and fear washed over me. Before I could scream, the lights came back on and there, in front of me, was small black creature.

It looked like a doberman pinscher with a massive sunflower seed in place of its head. I almost fell on the floor lurching away, as the sunflower seed head split open like a blossoming flower revealing hundreds of sharp teeth and a long spooling tongue.

“Physma come in all shapes and sizes,” Dr. Lee said, “ and this little one is hungry,”

The monster bounded at me, leaping in a long arc, sharp teeth aimed for my head.

“Ahh!” I screamed, raising my hands to shield my face, before the creature burst into dust.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to face one yet.” Dr. Lee said with amusement.

“This is sick! I want to leave!”

“Not until your Big-Three Physma are defeated.”

Fizz-ma? “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Your Big-Three Physma are: Social Isolation, Bipolar Disorder I, and Morbid Obesity. These are very formidable foes but with time, experience, and courage, you will be able to face them and…maybe defeat them.”

I crossed my arms. “I’m not going to participate in this nonsense. I refuse.”

“We can unleash your Physma on you now, if you like. You are of the beginner class, so you’ll easily snap, then once we bring you back, you can try again.”

Madison imagined trying to fight three of those creatures. She was screwed.

“Beginner class? Is this a game?”

“Perspective prefers to be called a strategic simulation,” Dr. Lee said, “but yes, you are currently the weakest class of the simulation.”

“Strategic simulation…Okay, can I have an instruction manual or something?”

“No, you will learn as you go. We, the treatment team, will guide you the best we can. I will say, if you would have listened to me and completed your daily coping skills, you could have been at a much higher starting class but…this is fine.”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t know I was going to be shoved into a clusterfuck of a situation. Is this dangerous?”

“Perspective? Yes, it is very dangerous.”

“What the hell do you mean, ‘very dangerous’?”

“Most participants snap, unfortunately.” She clicked her teeth. “We are at a 90% snap rate in the fourteen experiments before this one.”

“Snap? What is that? You did mention it earlier, when I was HOME.” I said the word as loudly as I could muster.

“If you exert yourself beyond your mental capacity, you will snap. To snap is to lose all brain function, leaving you in an unconscious vegetative state.”

I shuddered at the idea. This is insane. I need to GTFO.

“Don’t worry,” Dr. Lee continued, “you will be kept alive in our state-of-the-art medical stasis bay. Since the first experiment, we have brought back 20% of all the participants who have snapped. That number is getting better and better!”

The psychologist’s voice seemed overly chipper after telling me this experiment could leave me brain dead.

“Your situation was very severe Madison, you had nothing to lose. I’m glad you decided to come here.”

“What the hell!” I yelled, my youthful voice cracking. “I did not agree to this!”

“Actually, you did. You signed the contractual paperwork on the first day. Six signatures, Madison. Even the one that detailed being extracted from your home if you refused to come willingly.”

Damn it, I do remember it being a lot of signatures. Who the hell reads all that intake bullshit.

“You also took the calibration medication as well. That allowed your brain to become supple enough to adhere to the vigors of the Perspective Engine One.”

That’s why that medicine didn’t work. It wasn’t even treating me. That has to be malpractice or something. I shook my head. “Why didn’t we talk about this in our sessions?”

“I didn’t want to scare you away. I also had to see if you were a good fit.”

I sighed. “What do I even get out of this?”

“I got ahead of myself, I should have mentioned this. Each time you defeat one of your afflictions, they will heal and cease to exist in your life in the real world. At the end of this, you will be a very different woman!”

I blinked at the thought of it. The thought of being healed. Freedom from the weight of it all.

“Oh.” I said.

“There’s also a cash prize of $81,426.”

“That’s…oddly specific.” I squinted. “Well, can you give me a rundown of the experiment?”

“Well Madison, the treatment team needs to learn more about this new experiment as well. No one knows what happens one moment to the next. Perspective only reveals a small fraction, even to us, at the start of each phase.”

“Perspective sounds controlling.” I said.

“Perspective was created to ensure minimal external manipulation as possible. Be very careful what you say about this V.R. A.I., it doesn’t take kindly to disrespect.”

I toyed with the idea of raging against the machine. But I decided against it.

“It’s the perfect system to conduct experiments,” Dr Lee said, “that could play a major role in the world we live in. Imagine a world where you can get rid of physical health and mental health by simply defeating them.”

The idea did seem revolutionary, but I didn’t want to be a part of the revolution.

“Fine. Since this is mandatory, let’s get it over with. Where do I start?”

“Good. Perspective doesn’t think it’s good for clients to go about this experience alone. You personally know how hard life is alone, Madison.”

Fuck off, Dr. Lee. Although when the woman mentioned going through the experience alone, Madison remembered the Prime courier.

“What happened to that guy with the dreads? Who delivered the package?”

“Oh? Client #592? We were trying to bring him in for a while but he was always driving here and there. Glad you helped us help him.”

I clenched my fist. Tricking people into therapy and kidnapping them. These people are f****d.

A wall in the room flashed blue three times, before disappearing. On the other side of the wall was a wide blue corridor. The walls, ceiling and floors were covered with fur and there was a small white door at the end of it.

I knew it’d be a white door.

“Please walk through the door.”

I took a step, before stopping. “What’s on the other side?”

“It’s the first phase of the experiment: Team-building.”