Perspective Engine One

5 - Escalation of Afflictions

[ Beginner Class + Morbidly Obese ]

[ Team : 1 of 3]

[ Remedies : 1 ]

[ Inventory : 2]

[m. str. sphere] [m. surv. sphere] [empty] [empty]

[ Memories : 0 ]

[ Missions : 1 ]

[ Connect with the Idle Clients - 0 / 10 ]

[ Time until Phase One completion: 40:21 ]

[ Time until Physma appears: 21 minutes ]

My interface was becoming overwhelming. I held two fingers up and pinched it to become as small as it could be. I had twenty-one minutes until those Physmas appeared. That was less time than an episode of Rick and Morty without the commercials. This was bad. I needed to see if I could help the other clients work together. I felt important as if I mattered for once. I walked toward the largest group of green-hued children that I could see, wondering why they hadn’t been assisting one of the two squads.

Walking took effort, as the rain beat down on me and my soaked wet clothes were thick and heavy. And I was also thick and heavy. A cluster of girls were lounging on drop cloth near Jax’s wallfort. They sat in a circle of five under a large blue tarp that hung from a bulldozer, pinned in the ground at several points with large nails and bricks. There was a brick floor, built several bricks long and wide and three bricks high that made for a damp and low dark-red terrace. The platform would easily be underwater in a few hours so it was strange they weren’t more worried about their safety.

I approached them cautiously, hearing bursts of laughter coming from the group as I got closer.

“You think your remedy is trivial? ” I heard one of them say, “My remedy for a burned tongue only allows me to spit ice cubes.”

“At least you can drink hot drinks and never have to worry about it.” Another girl replied. None of them were wearing their masks or helmets. The closer I got the more I could sense an aura of posh preppiness from the girls, which would have made my actual ten-year-old self jealous and secretly obsessive.

I stepped atop the terrace, my weight displacing several bricks along the edge before I found sturdier footing. The tarp sagged in the middle where rain collected, causing it to pour off the side making a small waterfall. It felt nice to be out of the rain. There were several supplies scattered across the platform now that I could see better. A couple of ropes, a ladder that leaned over a far right edge, and a turned-over orange wheelbarrow, to name a few. I took a couple of steps getting closer to them.

“Hey girls,” I said, waving at the group. I wiped my wet construction goggles with a finger to see things more clearly. “I wanted to ask —” Before I could finish, one of them looked at me and loudly scoffed.

“Ew.” She said loudly with a grimace on her face. “Guys look what rolled over here.” The dirty blonde had a southern accent that you would see dramatized in a Hallmark movie. Three of the other girls turned as well. One glance in my direction and they all began laughing hysterically. I stepped back, feeling confused at the intensity of the insult. Only one of the five didn’t laugh.

“Oh my, Tish you’re right, she is a hot mess,” one of them said. “You do not fit in here, do you hear me?” She had an icy prettiness, with a silver tiara on her head. How the hell this girl got a tiara, I would never know. My hand clenched into a feeble fist, as the whole scene reminded me of trying to sit at the cool kid’s lunch table fifteen years ago.

“Hey, Marianne, that’s rude, okay,” another girl said. Her eyes were green but they were full of concern rather than the coldness coming from the others. There was a strangeness to the way she sat, as I slowly recognized that she was paraplegic. “Sorry,” the girl continued, “the four have been bragging about which of them is the biggest narcissist, so you don’t even have to guess what their affliction is.”

“Judith, why don’t you mind your business,” Marianne said. “We let you stay here with us. You’re lucky you’re actually pretty. Now, what is your name?”

“It’s Madison,” I said, expecting another verbal attack.

“Okay, Madison. Your name is now ‘from over there’,” Marianne pointed out into the storm, “we’re going to call you ‘from over there’ if we want to talk, toodles!”

“I just wanted to…” My blood boiled with anger as I clenched my fist. Why can’t I do anything without being fat-shamed to hell? I glanced at Judith, who appeared to lament the whole situation.

“Please leave,” the girl Tish said, “there’s not much of it, but you’re blotting out the sun.” If these conversations were going to be with rude ass clients the entire time, it would be easier to just let them figure it out on their own.

“Wait, Madison,” Judith said, as I walked away. I could hardly hear her over the rainfall pattering the plastic tarp. I turned to the girl, who was already lifting and scooting herself toward the orange wheelbarrow in the corner of the terrace. “Can you take me with you?”

“Uh, Sure,” I said, as Marianne stood from the brick floor.

“Oh, you’re a little two-faced b***h, huh, Judith?” Marianne spat.

“Relax Marianne,” Judith said, “I just want to get away for a little bit, I’ve been sitting here for hours.”

Tish and the two other girls stood as well, staring at the paraplegic. “Why do you think you can just come and go?” Tish said, her accent becoming crude. “We treated you fair because you’re lame, but you turned out to be ungrateful. I reckon we ought to keep you around and show you some real hospitality.”

Damn. This went south fast.

“Hey!” I shouted, considering the most protective statement I could muster. “You want to deal with me? Leave her alone!” I wasn’t much of a fighter, but I did know how to throw my weight around.

Tish picked up a brick at her feet. “f**k you gonna do?” The southern girl asked. “I’ll knock your fat head in.”

I stepped back, staring at the dark red brick she cradled in her hand, as fear also crept into my vision. She tossed the brick from hand to hand, her glare menacing. I glanced at Judith, her face filled with worry.

“I won’t let you hurt her,” I said, regaining some composure.

“We’re not narcissists, you know,” Tish smiled, “we’re psychopaths.” She pulled back the brick and flung it at me, missing by a wide margin. She may have been psycho, but she couldn’t hit water if she fell out of a boat.

Screw it. I charged at her with a scream, half-girl, half-bull. She held up her hands to stop me, but I ran through the b***h, her body crashing down under me. She tried to get back up but I stamped her in the face with my boot and she laid back down. Must’ve been the minor strength sphere. Speaking of spheres, a new one popped into view as soon as I smashed into Tish:

(Minor Destruction Sphere progress: 50%)

“I said leave her alone!” I shouted, stepping over the crumpled Tish and taking defensive steps toward Judith, my eyes looking between Marianne and the other girls.

“Tsk. Take her then. She’ll only slow you down.” Marianne said, stepping away from the paraplegic. “Don’t come back Judith,”

“I won’t,” Judith said, “you all are crazy.”

When I reached her, Judith said, “Sorry for the trouble.” She was lying on her side, legs outstretched, inches from the orange wheelbarrow.

“No problem at all,” I said, turning away from the four to crouch down to flip up the wheelbarrow.

“Now!” Marianne said, thrusting her boot into my back. I fell head first, face crashing against the metal wheelbarrow before falling to the brick floored terrace. For a moment, I wondered what happened. Rainwater splashed against my cheek, and rolled down my goggles as I lay on my side. I felt dizzy, stars splotching my vision, as I rolled to my back and saw Marianne and the other girls with bricks in their hands.

“Destruction sphere?” Marianne said as she got the same prompt I received. Oh, we’re going to have fun with the two of you,” she smiled, then pointed at me. “Especially you, for coming over here and ruining our fun.”

That was a little dramatic.

“Damn it,” I said, “I just wanted to help,” as they stepped closer to smash my face in.

“Help yourself,” one of the girls said. I shut my eyes tight awaiting the attacks but nothing happened. There was a gasp.

I opened to see the girls standing over me, eyes wide, almost bulging from their sockets. Their bricks clattered to the terrace floor as tears poured down both sides of their cheeks. Judith had her arms raised at them from the ground.

“Remedy for hiccups,” she said, “they can’t breathe.”

I stood to my feet, looking between Judith and the other four. Seeing the deepening blue lips and cheeks of the girls, I said, “Don’t kill them.” They were crazy, but they were held captive by their afflictions just the same as Judith, Rey, and me. I could still see Papa, smiling and guiding me along feeling hopeful for my future. Judith's arms were still raised as the girls fell to their knees scratching at their throats. “Don’t kill them, Judith!” I screamed, as the paraplegic released them and they fell to the floor with harsh gasps.

“Sorry, I just wanted them to know I meant business,” Judith said. I looked at her warily, considering what I just saw. “Can I still come with you?”

“Of…of course,” I said. She wouldn’t do very well if I left her here I supposed. At this point, they would end up killing one another. I turned over the wheelbarrow and proceeded to lift Judith into it. She was heavy, but it was possible. Before I pulled off with her, I looked at the rope at my feet, and I tucked it into my inventory. I also turned to the metal ladder that was close by as well. Grasped a rung and tried to pull it into my inventory. It didn’t work. If you can lift it, you can lift it, Rey said. I grabbed it by the side rails and managed to pick it up with a quick thrust and pulled the ladder into my inventory. Phew. Rey had also subconsciously taught me to take what I could get. I almost took the tarp but I didn’t want to be an asshole. The four girls were huddled together again, each of them wary of us as we prepared to leave.

“I came here to tell you to use your memories. They might help you deal with the affliction or just change your perspective,” I said.

“You don’t have the right to tell us what to do,” Tish said. She was holding her head and nose, so whatever she said came out nasally.

“Suit yourself.” I grasped the handles, as Judith covered herself with her coat to prevent water from filling into the wheelbarrow too quickly. I rolled her off of the platform and we splotched into the high flood water.

(Minor Steering Sphere progress: 4%)

Steering sphere? Really? I almost laughed out loud. The waters were just below my knees and pushing the wheelbarrow through it all took effort. I’d spotted a group of three boys on a small stack of bricks near an orange excavator and headed in that direction.

“What’s your plan?” Judith said loudly, over the rain splashing around us.

“I was given a mission to connect with the clients who weren’t helping,” I said.

“Well, you can see why I wasn’t helping now, with my active affliction being paraplegic. I got so excited when I stood up on my own two feet only to come crashing back down at the start of this phase.” I could almost imagine that reality since I was crippled in my own way.

“Mine is morbid obesity. I was having a hard time dealing with this s**t,” I said. “then one of the other clients told me to use my memory. It really put things into perspective for me.”

“I haven’t used my memory yet,” She said. “What was it?” I didn’t respond right away. It was an odd feeling, wanting to keep the memory to myself. It was, after all, personal and a very special moment in my life.

“It was surreal, to say the least, but it was exactly what I needed.” I said, “it made me want to share with everyone who seemed to be having a rough go at this experiment. I wanted to let them know they can make it through. That they’re capable of more.”

“That’s really nice of you,” She said.

“I try, sometimes,” I said, as I continued pushing her through the water. The wheelbarrow was heavy and barely manageable, but for some reason, I felt like I wasn’t getting tired. I kept going without taking any breaks.

(Minor Steering Sphere progress: 57%)

The boys were closer now and I could see they were talking to one another, a bit of an argument between two of them.

“So how did you end up with those girls?” I asked.

“One of Jax’s guys built a little rest area for the workers. That was before they realized they didn’t have to rest.”

“What do you mean they didn’t have to rest? That doesn’t make sense.”

“I’ve learned that everything that we do expels a different type of energy in this place. It’s like we can pull directly on Perspective, the system allows it. Whenever we feel pain or get tired, our body isn’t really experiencing it. This virtual reality experience is in our mind, so that takes on the pain and strain.” I remembered when I saw the stars and felt dizzy.

“And you figured all that out just by looking around at everyone huh?”

“Well, I’m a scientist in the real world, a high school science teacher, really. I didn’t truly figure it out. This is just a hypothesis.”

“High school huh? Seems like a rough time.” I said. I would have never chosen that as a career. I was not a fan of teenagers at all.

“It definitely had its moments,” she said, with a chuckle. “Hey, before we get over there, how do you feel about joining team Madison?”

Before I could respond, I felt a bump then a scream, as the wheelbarrow slipped from my grasp, plunged underwater.

[ Time until Physma appears: 7 minutes ]