Life on Mars

Chapter Nine

The next morning Vic came out of his room, shielding his red eyes from the glare of a bright summer morning bursting in from the balcony. He'd been pretty upset last night and still was. He couldn't help thinking that the summer morning was just for him, that the futures had programmed it to cheer up the caveman. Maybe they thought the caveman wants that kind of thing. After all, they were used to living outside when they were hunting buffalo, they might have said. 

Bluu knocked and entered as usual, bringing in his breakfast. Pulling his nightgown around him, he shuffled across the room without making eye contact. She placed the cup and plate in front of him as he sat at the dining table. It was becoming a pointless ritual now that he could clearly bring his own meals, not least cook them. He looked down at the plate of steaming sausages, eggs and beans along with brown toast and mushrooms. He felt his blood boiling with anger, and he had to make something happen; he felt like a rat in a cage. 

He must refuse to perform for his captors. Without thinking, he slipped his hand under the warm plate and launched it across the room, sending the food splattering down the gold leaf wallpaper. Bluu flinched at this explosion of anger and looked at him, the tiny residue of food droplets running down her face and clothing. He stood up breathless with anger, his chest and shoulders heaving up and down, his eyes demanding a reaction. He regretted his actions immediately. The pain in her eyes made him feel like an angry father who'd just lashed out at a playful toddler.

Shit, he thought. He could read her mind; she was stunned by his act of aggression. He suddenly felt pathetic; he was a caveman after all. That's what she was thinking, and he didn't want her to think it. He wanted to take away what he had just done and wipe it clean, but he couldn't.

"I have a surprise for you today," she said, holding back tears and smiling, dabbing her face clean with the back of her hand. 

He looked away to the floor in shame. "It's time for us to explore and for me to show you our history and what we know of your future. The future you missed."

Her voice was croaky like an abused wife trying to reason with the animal she still loved. The double doors swung open and a couple of futures came in. Both were dressed in white lab coats and wearing hospital face masks. Vic wondered if they had been outside and heard the commotion, yet they didn't look at him once. Both he and Bluu looked away, embarrassed like a couple caught rowing at a party. One future pushed in a trolley with a suitcase-size device on it and then left, gently closing the door behind them with a click.

Bluu composed herself. "Today, we are going into V-world so I can show you our past, the part of our past that we know about." She looked down at him with that smile again. "It will help you understand things," she paused. "Why things are different now." She was struggling for words, wringing her hands together nervously. He couldn't escape the shame he felt and what she might be thinking right now.

"Hey, caveman, we don't run around raping and killing each other anymore like you did. Why not come with me and find out why life is so much better without people like you. I can show you why you really do belong in a fucking zoo!" However, she didn't say any of that. She was too kind to say any of it, and he'd later recognise how his feelings for Bluu changed that day.

"V-world?" he whispered to the floor. "Is that it, my quarantine is over?"

"Not quite, but soon. We all want it to be soon." Her palms were forward as if she might have to ward off a blow. This made him feel even more pathetic and he resigned right then to be a better person. He was intrigued to experience V-World having heard so much about it. From what he'd been told, it was a virtual reality world of a quality he'd struggled to imagine. He shrugged, looking to the floor again avoiding eye contact.

Bluu continued. "V-world is a computer-generated place. A three-dimensional environment. I have created something special for you. To help you understand," she paused, "us," she finished. He got the feeling that V-world was much more than any computer game he'd known, it had become a central part of life here. The word virtual no longer applied because if you were a brain, then this is as real as it gets. Bluu began the standard explanation to prepare him for what he was about to experience. "Imagine you put your hand near a fire or you see the colour green," she said. "How do you know that?"

"I suppose," he thought about this a little more. "My nerves tell my brain, my eyes tell my brain?" He wasn't sure if that's what she had meant.

Bluu smiled. "So, So, if those nerves told your brain you were cold or could see orange?"

Vic thought for a moment. "I would be cold and see orange I suppose," he shrugged. "That's exactly how V-world works."

Bluu reached into the case and held up a helmet like the leather flying helmet that Second World War pilots would wear, complete with goggles. "By wearing this device, it can intercept all the inputs that are coming in from various nervous systems and disable them at the base of the brain. It then inserts new ones dependent on which sim you are in," she said. "So, as far as my brain is concerned, V-world will actually be real?" This scared him.

"Almost, you can't die and there's a finite limit on certain inputs such as pain whilst other emotions can be accelerated," she stated, handing him the helmet. "All you need after that is a world to visit called a sim, you can decide on the rules within this world, like whether you can fly or not and anything else you want. So, when you are in a sim, and enjoying adventures, then you can do so in complete safety."

"I see," he said. They obviously had some different ideas about safety these days if intercepting and disabling brain function was considered rudimentary. Bluu continued.

"Sims can be public places where others around you are real people or private where the other people are artificial intelligence bots. There's little difference in the experience."

Bluu had explained how V-world had gone way beyond games and adventures. By setting certain rules, people could not only socialise but, for those who chose to, experience a cooperative work environment. Vic was astounded to find that because life was so leisurely, many enjoyed the challenge of a group task with high demands or monotonous time conscious duties. In effect, their job was now their challenge and pastime. Traffic jams, paperwork and office politics were the new Grand Theft Auto. In the same way, as they achieved nothing in a game, the same was true in work type environments, it was to experience different worlds. V-world allowed humans to work, play and even have sex from their own armchairs, actually being in reality was a secondary requirement. Bluu continued to bring him up to speed as best she could and intermittently assured him it was safe. He felt like a caveman being coaxed into an aeroplane. It took a few minutes to get things ready with Vic being overly polite at appropriate points as if it might lessen the effect of his earlier savagery. There was no mention of his recent outbursts and soon, they were ready to go.

"This is your first time in V-world, so it can be very disorientating," Bluu explained. "First of all, let me explain that nothing you see is real, it's easy to forget that. Everything you experience is through the helmet. If at any point you want to leave, just do this." She raised her right hand with the thumb protruding outwards and placed it on her chest whilst using her left in a similar fashion to flick her forehead outwards in a single movement. He mimicked her. "Good," she said. "That's it." Bluu seemed a little nervous, maybe more nervous than he was. As if she'd baked a cake, she proudly explained that the entire simulation was designed by her, with a little help. Explaining that most of the time, they would not be with the general population but in a private simulation. There were various methods of experiencing V-world, but the helmet was as good as it gets without an implanted chip.

"Sounds good, kinda like having the latest Xbox with a widescreen TV and quadrophonic sound." She looked at him puzzled, as he sat down next to her.

"Ok," she said, making the escape move once more. "Take these and put your helmet on." He looked at the four green pills in his hand with his palms still open. "Nutrients, sugar and protein," she said and dropped her goggles. He swallowed them in one gulp, put the helmet on and dropped the goggles over his eyes. He sat silently for a moment, completely blinded by the glasses through which he saw nothing. "Are you ready?" she said excitedly.

"Ready," he said, nervously adjusting himself.

"Here we go."