1 Prologue

Prologue...

Seven years ago, a pregnant lady couldn't help herself to her car. She was all alone, and her water already broken. She was a single mother for a reason, and the distance between her car and herself was tantamount to that between herself and her love life. Unreachable. Almost a mirage of realism!

All of the passersby would not tend to her need, could not give a helping hand. Everyone just went on on their daily activities. Even when her cry for help became too loud, a healthy lady who used to be a nurse, that was walking by, clipped in her chips, flipping her finger across her wrist to increase the volume of the music she started bopping her head to.

But a man, a neighbor next door, peeping through the window, had been watching the incident for a while now. He did want to help her, but momentarily he would look back at his cute daughter and review the urge to go help the woman. And no sooner he looked away from his girl to the woman, he saw the woman fall on her back, while trying to get the door of her car, after struggling to her car. He couldn't stand it anymore, since he'd just watched another man walk past the lady's car, dodged her fall and kept on walking as if nothing happened. He couldn't stand the inhumanity.

The good man left his daughter, and went to assist the woman. He got her to the hospital and after several hours in labour, she delivered a caramel white boy. But while in the mood of the celebration, three judgement bots walked into the ward and declared to the man,

"Player 1307456, Eliminated."

And the leader of the bot zoomed like the wind towards the man, pinned him in a choke to the wall and ripped his head off his body. And left the woman, screaming her lungs out.

|___________________________|

Pre. Day. The Future. 3012. Alternate Calender

"I want to go back to my mom."

Drake argued, as the door to the SECLUDED GAMING HALL opened. The room he had visited a couple of times. Since he was five.

As soon as the door closed, the bot let go of him and he hurried to the door to try to open it. But all the buttons he punched did to the door was gave it stronger layers, making it impossible to unlock, let alone open.

"Open this door now."

Drake tried to be dreadful, but what could a seven years do to scare such gigantic bots? Yet he knew he had to do something.

"I'll ruin this place right now if you don't stop this shit!"

He cussed even though he'd promised his mother never to. He hurried to one of the numerous game chairs in the hall, and tried to pull a plug out but was flung away by the electric currents which coursed through the chair.

He fell on his side but decided to try in another way. He crawled under the chair and tried to dislocate the code wires he'd been reading about since the past few months. Yet he was almost fried. He now look almost looked like an overcooked barbecue, his caramel skin slightly corrupted, but he was still very much alive.

Since there was hardly anything he could do, he just lied on his back, in the aisle, at the front of Chloe's chair. He was breathing heavily.

The leader of the bots changed the tone of his voice suddenly, sounding like Drake's mother,

"Little wonder, the government is cunny and evil. They make a bed of roses and make you sleep on it, unkown to you that the bed is mounted on a mire, and before you could wake, you've drown completely. Yourself, the bed of roses, and your mind!"

"How'd you do that?"

Drake asked intrigued, trying to stand on his feet. The leader didn't give an answer, he continued instead, speaking in a normal deep voice now,

"She invested your seven years of growing up in telling you how bad the government is. She hardly told you anything about your birth, father, the man who helped her, Chloe's father -- Did you know, Chloe's father died because of her?!"

Drake's jaws dropped at that. He had given himself totally to the story. Plus he looked disappointed too. Like his existence has all been a lie. The bot continued,

"I know you have a million questions to ask. But your mom doesn't own an answer to it. We are offering you a chance to meet with both Chloe's father and Chloe."

"But her father is dead. You just said that."

Drake had argued. The bot persisted,

"You see, the government is so generous and doesn't necessarily fits the picture majority of the masses paint. The truth is we all know that you can't please everyone. And we don't try to that. That's what makes the government different from the masses."

The bot took steps closer to him now,

"We collected his neurons, moulded a frame that fits his former looks then projected him into the video game. He now only lives there. Doesn't live here anymore."

Drake, wounded by great enthusiasm asked desperately,

"So you mean, every dead person lives in the game. Like paradise?"

The leader bot made a weird noise deep in its artificial throttle,

"Won't you find out for yourself?"

Drake shook his head roughly. Suddenly, the leader bot punched a button in his head and spoke into the air,

"Come in."

Drake looked hurriedly around, confused. Then the door of the hall opened to the melanin skinned man.

"You!"

Drake called, but the man kept his grim face and walked past the bots as though he had never seen Drake before.

The man went straight to the empty 80th seat next to Chloe's and grabbed the arms of the seat.

"Are you mad?"

Drake cussed, almost going to touch the man but the leader of the bots restrained him. They all watched the man suffer from the electric currents for some moments. After a while, the chair stopped electrifying him and he dropped unconsciously on his back.

"Why did you do that to him?"

Drake set a ball of argument rolling, running to the unconscious man. The leader bot walked to him and picked him up,

"You don't have much time for this. In few seconds, the electric currents would be back to the chair and you would have to wait another day for him to be strong enough to take the currents for you. I'm sure you don't want him to suffer again."

After those words, the bot made him sit in the chair and plugged him in. He was strapped in too. But before clipping the chip in his temple, the bot asked him,

"Where would you like to go first?"

"First?"

Yea. All first timers get to choose a place of interest before the first level.

"Levels? You didn't tell me anything about that earlier."

"You'll learn by time. Now where would like to go? Three seconds more."

The bot warned. Drake was flushed,

"Three seconds? How's that possible?!"

"Two... One..."

"Anywhere. Anywhere. Under water. Fire. Anywhere."

And the chip was clipped! He felt electricity coursing through his veins, he couldn't help but scream on top of his voice. He kicked and shook... and quaked... and then... GLOOM!