A Simulation. (The Tunnel)

The Tunnel- A Simulation.

The machines malfunctioned, ferociously blaring. I felt claustrophobic, as if someone had given me a lethal injection.

AUTOMATED SPEAKER: SYSTEM ERROR. REBOOT FAILED.

The pressure in my lungs built up and my body was on fire. The scene before my eyes changed, flashing two
Continuum robots- charging towards me.

I wanted to scream, call for help and wake up from this nightmare but I did not have control over my body.

AUTOMATED SPEAKER: SYSTEM OVERHEAT. SHUTTING DOWN IN 30 SECONDS.

The countdown begun. It was like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any second. Memories of my life flashed before my eyes, blocking out the wide metallic tunnel.
I saw glimpses of my mother, my dad and friends which made me internally smile. This was it, the end.
Accepting my fate, I relived my life- even though they were fragments of memories.

The memories flickered, suddenly fading away and leaving me in the black passage, cold and alone. It didn't seem like a nightmare anymore, the machines blared as the countdown reached 30 seconds slowly ticking down.

No. This wasn't how my journey was going to end. I'd live and die on my own terms. This wasn't the time to give up.
The heat burnt through my skin, giving me courage. I looked around, scrutinizing the place.
The Continuum robots were repairing a machine, which looked like the storage of a device's data. The device sparked, compelling the robot to move away.

I turned away, feeling a knot formed in my stomach. It felt as if I was somehow connected to the hardware device. I shook my head, this was just a bad dream and I had to find a way out.

My eyes narrowed as I saw an opening like a door at the other side of the tunnel. The door frame was glowing of white light though it seemed to be dark on the other side.

I didn't care, as long as I could escape this horrendous place. After taking a deep breath I started walking towards the other side, but it wasn't as easy as it looked to walk to the other side because after taking two steps, I fell, hard to the floor.

This place was an optical illusion.

AUTOMATED SPEAKER: SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IN 10, 9, 8...

The final countdown begun. There wasn't enough time to climb up to the opening. Shoot. I started panicking and glanced at the robots. They were still trying to fix the malfunctioned machines and started backing up.

"4, 3..." The speakers counted in the background.

AUTOMATED SPEAKER: *ON HOLD* CANCEL SYSTEM SHUTDOWN?

The device waited for an answer.

"Cancel system shutdown." I replied, hoping it would listen to me.

AUTOMATED SPEAKER: CANCELLING SHUTDOWN.

The pressure in the passage released, as the alarms stopped blaring.

AUTOMATED SPEAKER: CANCELLATION SUCCESSFUL. AUTHORIZE FACTORY RESET?
The system asked.

Afraid that it would malfunction again and put me in a frenzy again, I authorised the request.

The machines shut down as the green light indicating that they're working disappeared too. The passage became dark like a black hole.
Black walls of the passage were forced to reflect light that was coming from the opening I had been trying to reach.

With help of the little light, I started climbing up the sections of this passage- more like a hole, careful to not step on any of the machines.

"Stop!" A voice commanded sternly.
I turned back, only to face a hologram of a person.

"Who are you?" I asked, clinging on to the slabs which held the machines.

"The inventor of this world- The Tunnel, where you exist not as a human rather a sim."

I scoffed, "What? No. It's not possible, I have a family."

"You are a memory Jyn."

My whole world fell apart. "What do you mean? We live in the 21st century, science and technology has not reached so far."

"We do not live in the 21st century. It's a simulation to save the remaining humans left on earth." He explained.

"You're lying!" I yelled at him.

"We're from the 25th century. In the year 2478."

"Even if you're telling me the truth, why would you cage me in here?" I asked in disbelief.

"A few astronauts had gone to a mission on another Galaxy for researching on a planet, almost identical to earth. They left for the mission in the 23rd century and never returned. Centuries passed and we lost hope to find those astronauts." He continued, "But a few decades ago, space wars broke lose and we were stuck. The martians had betrayed us and the lunarians sacrificed their planet and lives to defend us."

"But aliens from other galaxies invaded milky way making their way into our solar system. Eventually, killing almost all of the human population." I said as fragments of my actual life as a human merged with my life as a sim.

"Those to lead the aliens were none other than earthlings. The astronauts we thought were lost forever." He added to my statement.

"And I was one of them. Turned into a protaurian."

"You were still humans, with your memories blocked out." He continued, "Bad news is, the Proxima Centuari b is now the most dominant planet in the universe and Mars has joined forces with them. We're at constant war with them at all times."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You must wake up, we have you contained and due to time lapse, you have not aged much. Jyn, you must remember you are a human- an earthling, not a protaurian." He said.

I nodded at him.

AUTOMATED SPEAKERS: TO CONTINUE FACTORY RESET, RESPOND 'YES'.

"Cancel factory reset. Reboot system." I commanded.

AUTOMATED SPEAKERS: CANCELLING FACTORY RESET. RETRIEVING HUMAN DATA. STARTING REBOOT IN 680 SECONDS.

"Would you like to come back to earth as a human to fight and protect our planet?" The man asked me.

"Yes." I say, leaving the tunnel to protect those who can be saved and are present in the simulation.