In a world taken over by virtual reality due to the destruction of the planet, Calina finds that she can no longer bear being restricted by the confinements of the Duncan VR Center. As more secrets become unraveled from her past, the balance between...
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Day 6388
"Claire, look out or the rock!" I shout. Our raft points towards a big rock, and we start paddling frantically in an attempt not to flip. Clipping the side of the rock, our raft flips and the white water waves crash around us. "CLAIRE!!" I scream, gasping for air before the water sucks me under again. Where am I you might ask? Well I'm white water rafting in the Grand Canyon. Actually I'm not really, I'm actually in virtual reality right now.
Ever since I was 2, I've been exploring the world through VR. I've also never met my parents or any family at that. After an insider is born, they are separated and raised until age 2 by outsiders. The only thing insiders are told when screenings on our contacts begin & end, where we're located - in my case, Duncan VR Center in Monesao, USA - and about our fearless leader who goes by the name of GLASSES. This is where I met Claire. We happened to both end up in Mesa Verde one day. After that, we were best of friends and still do everything together.
"Calina!" I hear when my head reaches the surface again. The water is more calm now and I'm able to stay above. Frantically, I turn to find Claire over by the riverbank. I swim to her and as I reach the shore she comes to help me out.
"Dang, that was fun." I joke.
"Calina! You're lucky we're in VR right now!" Says Claire.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, what time is it?" I ask.
"It's 20:25. Was this a fun half birthday?"
"Yeah it was! Only 5 minutes till the screening ends." I add gloomily.
"Yeah, what do you want to do in out last 5 minutes in the Grand Canyon?"
"Well the stars should be out in less than a minutes, let's lay and watch the stars."
"Okay!" We lay down and rest our heads towards the open sky.
2 minutes later...
"PLEASE BE PREPARED TO EXIT VR IN T MINUS 2 MINUTES." Booms in my earbuds.
"Bye Calina."
"Bye Claire, Yellowstone tomorrow?"
"Yep!"
I watch Claire disappear first and then my surroundings vanish back to my VR booth. Unlocking myself from the safety harness, the voice that had become like a mother to me spoke through the speakers.
"Calina of sector 1256, please record what you did today before eating."
I walk over to the table and speak. "Start recording. Day 6388, today is my half birthday so I went to the Grand Canyon with Claire from sector 1256 and did whitewater river rafting the whole day. End of recording." I tell the Machine.
"Thank you for telling us your day Calina. Your may have dinner now." The voice stops and a moment later, my dinner is delivered to my room. I grab the tray and sit down to eat. In each warehouse that is a VR center, no one is allowed outside their rooms except on the monthly excursions to the roof where we get sunlight. You may think that dinner here is boring or repetitive, but you get to choose your meal every night and noon. Tonight I ordered Sloppy Joes. As I finish eating my meal, I hear a ring and see that it's almost 21:00 which is the time everyone is supposed to go to bed. I hate having to leave the locations I got to, to leave to go to sleep in an uncomfortable bed. Some days when I go to national parks or monument in VR, I wish I could go to those places in reality but no one is allowed out of the center.
