Cyberspace; The Ultimus Collection

Chapter 2, Lab Rat

Daniel stood on the side of the road, looking up at a tall, white building. 'LAB RATS INCORPORATED' was scrawled over the doorway. The building was a lot more modern than its surroundings. Everything else were these older, more run down buildings. This lab, however, was probably built just last year. With a very minimalistic design it definitely stood out against everything else in the neighborhood. Solid, pure white walls, no windows, and only one entrance.

Daniel took a deep breath and walked through the front doors. Inside we was greeted with the same minimalistic white aesthetic, only now there were fluorescent lights to illuminate the rooms. Frankly, it was blinding. On the other side of the room was a reception desk, where a receptionist sat, organizing papers and typing on her computer. Daniel approached the desk with a sense of unease.

"Hi! Are you here for an appointment?" The receptionist said cheerfully.

"Uhh, yeah. I was scheduled to test out some new virtual reality tech?"

"Oh I see. They're just finishing up their preparations now. If you'll have a seat over there I'll call you when everything is ready." The receptionist gestured to a row of chairs and tables against the wall.

"Um. Thanks." Daniel awkwardly walked over to the chairs and sat down. Even all of the furniture was the same pure, blinding, white. No pictures on the walls. No rugs on the floors. No color, aside from a small fern on the receptionist's desk. Daniel twiddled his thumbs and continued to look around. He spotted some magazines on one of tables. He leaned over and struggled to grab some. Science magazine, science magazine, science magazine. Daniel had to hand it to these egg heads, they sure do know how to keep a theme.

"Daniel Brown? They're ready to see you now." Without saying anything, Daniel got up and left the room through a door next to the desk, taking the magazines with him. Depending on how long this'll take, he'd want something to read. Through the door a scientist immediately greeted Daniel.

"Mr. Brown?" The scientist inquired.

"Yeah that's me. I'm ready for whatever experiment you guys got!" Daniel tried to sound a bit more confident, but it was so forced it gave the opposite effect.

"...uhhuh. Right this way please." The scientist turned around and began walking forward. He was so straightforward and calculated, it was kinda creepy. Almost like he was a drone. Daniel followed the scientist all the way down the hall to a room labeled 'I-1946'. The scientist opened the door and signed Daniel to go inside. "Just step inside Mr. Brown and we will start the procedure." Daniel stepped into the room and looked around. Pure. White. There was a cart in the middle of the room with a bundle of cables wires, and what looked like a headset. One of the walls was fitted with some sort of control panel. Other than those two things, just another sickening white room.

"Sooo, can you give me a quick refresher on what I'm doing?"

"Ugh. We were at Lab Rat Incorporated explore a wide variety of scientific subjects, hoping to breach their boundaries for a better future. Recently we've looked into the concepts augmented and virtual reality."

"Yeah I got that part. Your ad made it seem like I'm just testing another VR headset. But judging by your guys' whole aesthetic, I'm not so sure it's that simple anymore. Speaking of the ad, when do I get paid?"

"Do not cloud your mind with such trivial things Mr. Brown. We will need your mind clear for the procedure."

"Okay but I kinda took up this gig for the money."

"You will get paid after we document our results Mr. Brown. Now, we have already made strides in this department. Augmented reality, and virtual reality let you see the world of the internet... in a more understanding light shall we say. But we are wanting to go one step further. We want people to be able to feel like they are in a completely new world. Let them use their senses in a new plane just like how they use them here."

"Okay?"

"So you will help us test out our new system. We have a program set up that contains multiple everyday items and we want you to interact with them and describe your experiences. Smell, taste, touch. Anything like that."

"Sounds simple enough. Hook me up doc!" The scientist shook his head at the remark. He then spent the next few minutes hooking up the equipment to Daniel's body. All of the wires, cables, plugs, gloves, boots, everything. After he was finished, Daniel felt like he was in some cheesy sci-fi movie. The scientist then walked over to the control panel.

"Now. Time to run the simulation and the system." The scientist flipped some switches and pushed some buttons. The equipment started to buzz and hum with power. Maybe, a little too much power. Everything started to spark wildly. Daniel was getting electrocuted every second. It was unbearable. Such intense pain, pulsing through Daniel's body every second. Daniel fell to his knees as the scientist frantically tried to shut everything down. Daniel let out a blood curdling shriek as a massive surge of electricity shot through his body.

Suddenly everything went dark. Daniel was numb. He felt like he was drifting through space. His lifeless body suspended in nothing. But then, slowly, Daniel could feel again. He could see a light. He felt grounded back in reality. However it didn't feel the same. An alternate reality maybe? Daniel opened his eyes, blinking rapidly, like he'd just woke from a nap. He rubbed his face and looked up. Daniel's eyes widened as he was met face to face with a strange city. A city that looked ripped straight from the future. Needless to say, Daniel wasn't in New York anymore.