Dreams Don't Always Come True [Taylor Swift AU]

{2}

I went to the laboratory one brisk morning after an especially dark and gloomy day. As I walked down the street, I was keeping my focus on the ground in front of me, not wanting to look at the modern yet empty homes.

I can't force myself to leave this place that was once the most populated city in the country, for if I went anywhere else, that place would become abandoned too.

It makes me feel like this whole thing was my fault.

It makes me feel like I was the one who caused our country to go spiraling down into an inevitable pit.

But I wasn't.

Maybe this whole thing was a solid misunderstanding on my part, and maybe it wasn't that people didn't care about me anymore, but they couldn't remember.

The minute I saw the ads go out into the papers for the MindTravel simulations I knew it wouldn't end well. And I guess it didn't.

Person by person, everyone wanted to try the MindTravel, which seemed amazing at the time. The never-before-tested device had flawless computer coding and state of the art technology, so why not try it?

But after the first person came out of the MindTravel, my life changed forever.

The girl, who had to be no older than 15 at the time, was an insanely obsessive fan whom I had met multiple times. She had lots of money, and I guess when she had a bad day at school, she brought her credit card and when to the MindTravel labs. For some reason, the MindTravel corporation does not require you to be 18 or older, instead the rules are 10 and older.

When my fan exited the simulation, she felt better. She felt better because she got to relive the bad part of her day, and make that part happier.

However, when she came out of simulation a few things changed. Instead of being an obsessive fan, she lacked interest in me. I noticed that she quickly deleted her Instagram, Tumblr and Twitters she had made for me.

At first I found this as a coincidence, until another die-hard fan went in. She came out with no interest in me at all.

I soon discovered that the simulation has a few side effects that are written in fine print. The main side effect is a hint of memory and emotion loss, meaning that you will forget or not care as much about some of the most important people in your life. This side effect happened to almost everyone who entered the simulation, and almost everyone in the country decided to go to MindTravel at some point.

The majority of my fans went to MindTravel eventually, and every time a fan entered the simulation, another fan page was deleted. Another fan lost.

I had always vowed to never try a simulation.

But if I could have just a few hours of quality time with people who care about me....

The temptations took the best of me.

Walking down the abandoned road once known as Times Square, I stepped on top of every crack on the sidewalk.

I had already had bad luck. Let's see what these "unlucky" cracks in the road can bring. Try me.

My eyes were glued to the ground in front of me, it was too hard to look at this dark and abandoned city.

The quietness still made me uncomfortable, and my breaths were the only audible sound.

Suddenly, I hear the noise of a small object hitting the floor. It's a penny.

It landed smack in the center of the huge road, and I got confused.

Did the coin fall from the sky?

I was the only one there. How did the coin skid across the pavement?

I walked towards it.

I leaned over and picked it up. I noticed a small engraving on the face of the penny.

Written in teeny tiny letters, almost too small to be seen, it read: "ts forever + always."

I immediately got confused.

Didn't everyone hate me? And wasn't I the only one here?

I placed the coin in my pocket and headed to the labs.

I walked through the oversized glass doors and into a bright room.

"hello, how may I help you?" A monotone voice spoke out of the computer.

"Uh, I would like to get a simulation." I said.

"Right this way ma'am." The robot spoke again.

I followed the computer-on-wheels into a large room with a single chair.

"Complete this survey and press this button when you are finished." The robot said.

I picked up the tablet and looked at the questionnaire as the robot exited the room.

"What would your ideal world be? Circle at least three of the following options." Read the first question.

I did as the survey instructed, and when I completed it I pressed the button.

The robot came back into the room and took my tablet, connecting it to another monitor.

I was then instructed to sit in the chair, where wires were hooked up to me.

There were at least twenty wires on my head, with more on my arms, neck and chest.

"Ready?" The robot asked.

I nodded nervously in response.

"3..." The robot began to count down.

Do I really want to do this?

"2..."

I guess I'm doing this...

"1."

I blacked out almost immediately after the robot hit one. I remember a large red button being pushed, and that's it.

After that, the simulation had begun, and the last bit of normality in my life had vanished.