New World
Thunder and rain could be heard outside - *tap-tap-tap grrraoum*. Suddenly, Zohar and Kael burst into Leo's room. 'Leo, wake up!', 'Get up quickly!', 'What's going on?' - Leo answered. 'Kian is dead.' 'What? What happened?' - asked Leo. 'We don't know. We went into his room, and he was lying on the floor with a knife in his back. There was so much blood. Come on, hurry up, we need to escape' - added Kael."
So, frightened, they ran out of the room and fled down a side alley behind the tavern. "Find them, they couldn't have gone far" - someone shouted behind them.
'They're after us?' thought Leo, and they headed towards the port. Upon arriving, they noticed a sailboat where a man was adjusting the sail. Zohar threw him overboard, and Kael shouted, "Leo, quickly unfold the sail!" so he did. After a moment, the boat began to move away. "They're over there!" - they heard a cry behind them.
"Shoot them, what are you doing?" - someone in the crowd shouted behind them, and then the sound of a gunshot was heard. "The gun went bang!" - Leo fell to the floor of the boat, bleeding from his chest. "Gentlemen, I don't want to die!" - said Leo. "And you won't die, Kael. Take my jacket and keep pressure on the wound" - shouted Zohar.
Kael did everything Zohar told him to do, but it wasn't helping. "Aahh, I'm going to die..." he thought.
*Vrrrrrr-vrrrr!* "Get him out of here!" someone shouted.
"Quick, doctor!"
"Parameters are normal," Leo heard. "Where am I?! Who are you?!" Leo shouted. "What do you want?!"
"Give him a sedative!"
"Doctor, what about him?" someone said.
"I don't know how he could have survived so long in that simulation capsule. Nevertheless, we have to explain to him what's going on," said the head doctor.
After some weeks, Leo woke up from the sleep. He didn't know where he was. He saw only a hospital bed, white walls, and some paintings on them. Getting up from the bed, he went towards the window. Looking out of it, he wasn't sure what he was seeing. "Is this a dream?" he thought. He saw such enormous buildings practically reaching the clouds and so many lights...
During this observation, the doctor walked into the room. "Hi, Leo," he said. Turning towards the doctor, he looked at him and remembered Zohar, dressed in white, with black hair and blue eyes. After looking at the doctor, he looked out the window again and said, "I've been gone a long time, haven't I?"
"About 8 years," the doctor said. "But why do you remind me of someone from that dream?" Leo asked.
"We created this world from the faces, feelings, and landscapes that you have seen and remembered. I don't know myself why someone reminds me of someone else. Maybe it's because you saw me right before entering there," the doctor replied, approaching the window. He then asked, "What do you see there?"
Leo didn't answer, still staring at the lights that surrounded him. They were everywhere. After a moment, he said, "I want to go back there."
"You're not ready yet. You need to rest a little," the doctor said as he left the room.
Someone close to Leo asked, "Doctor, what about him?" The doctor replied, "Everything is fine, just one small problem - he currently wants to go back there, but he can't if he's not alive there. But please don't tell him that." He then went down the hallway and entered a huge room filled with electronics and people working on creating a new simulation. Hearing commands about adding strength to an animal, adding another smaller moon and vegetation, the doctor asked, "You have a lot of work, don't you?" Someone replied, "Yes, we are creating his body in that world."
The doctor sat down and watched the new simulation. He saw various landscapes, mushrooms the size of trees that also glowed blue. Strange creatures that resembled nothing we know on our planet were also present. The countless dangers included toxins, meat-eating trees, and lakes that burned the skin. In addition, the simulation featured an underwater city of strange creatures that resembled both fish and humans.
"Doctor, we're finished," he heard. He then left the room and went back to Leo. He entered the room and asked, "Do you really want to go back there?" After a moment, Leo looked at the doctor and said, "Yes, I'm ready." At that moment, a woman in a special suit for Leo, resembling a diving suit, entered the room.
"Put on this suit and let's meet in the room," said the doctor, once again heading towards the simulator control room.
Leo looked out the window for a moment, thinking he would go diving again with Zohar or his family, whom he had left there. After a while, he sat on the bed, undressed, and then put on the suit. He left the room and walked down a dark corridor illuminated only by neon lights. As he reached the room with all the electronic equipment, he felt as if he was seeing it for the first time, even though it wasn't his first time.
A doctor approached him and said he had to give him a shot of a nanostimulator. Leo rolled up his sleeve and received the injection, feeling light as if he were on the moon.
"Leo, sit comfortably in the capsule. We'll put the mask on you in a moment," the doctor said. Leo sat in the capsule, and then they put the mask on him and closed the capsule. After a while, the capsule began to fill with water, and Leo started to fall asleep. "Oh, I almost forgot, Leo. I'm sorry, but you won't go back to the previous world!" the doctor exclaimed. "What?!" Leo thought and fell asleep.
Loading simulation... Alien planet... Success!
"Has it loaded?" asked the doctor to the lead programmer. "Yes, he's waking up in a safe place," he replied, and then added, "Luckily, he won't remember what happened in the previous world or here with us, so the doctor doesn't have to worry."
The doctor sat down on a chair and observed what Leo would do.