At the End

Snakes

"Rake... Rat... Rough... Run... Ruin... Snack... Snake!" I mumbled to myself, "Finally." I dusted off the box and put on my gloves; no point in experiencing everything all over again. Taking off the lid I was hit with the sour smell of fear. I never did like snakes. Let's see what I got: I saw a snake, I heard a story about a snake, I was pranked with a snake, and I heard another story about a snake. That doesn't make any sense, I know I touched a snake on the 2nd grade field trip to the zoo. I sighed and put the lid back on the box. Great, just great.

"Computer," I yelled as I straightened up and walked towards the living room.

"Yes Jane?" the female voice replied. I mirrored the voice off of my old babysitter, Kate.

"I need a memory. Look for the texture of a snake."

"There are over five hundred memories of snake textures in The Library. Please try to be more specific."

"Make it a large snake. The largest, scariest snake you can think of."

"I have found the 'largest' and 'scariest' snake. Would you like to review it before I start downloading?"

"No, I trust your judgement. Make two copies in case I botch up the first try."

"Of course Jane. May I ask what this memory is for?"

"Remember Sally?"

"I do not remember Sally."

"Well her best friend's birthday is in two days and Sally is paying me to make a gift for the party. Sally told me to make a 'magical' creature so I'm making a dragon."

"How can you make a dragon? They don't exist."

"Well, a dragon is like a snake/lizard with wings so I'm going to mesh memories of a snake with memories of a bird. Maybe add some other animals too."

"That will be difficult."

"Think of it as an exciting new challenge. Plus the pay is good."

"The download is complete."

"Thank you. You may sleep until further notice." The ground became grassy, it smelled fresh and alive, and the air grew warmer. Unlike most of my rooms, the living room was a grassy meadow. I found many people unnerved by the ice rooms and locked doors, and the last thing you want to do is unnerve your customers. I went to the message port, picked up the 'snake skin', and shivered. The Computer was right, this snake was scary and really, really big. Holding the memory as far away from me as possible, I quickly made my way to the dragon framework and started grafting on the skin.

I'd been making avatars out of memories for years. I was especially good at the brain, a mix of memories artfully crafted to create 'thought'. Most people in my profession skipped the brain entirely, it being too hard or long and there's no real gain to doing it anyway. I just thought of it as a work of art. Besides, people paid a lot of money for avatars with brains. 

"Jane, I have a memory message for you," The Computer stated.

"Who is it from?" I asked.

"No information was given. Do you want to open it?"

"I have my hands full right now," I replied absentmindedly.

"Should I beam it to you?" The Computer asked.

"Sure, sure." I mumbled, not even processing the words The Computer said.

"Transferring message now." I jerked up, just realizing what was happening.

"Wait..." The memory message hit me full force. Fear and pain, but not my fear or my pain, burned my mind like fire, ripping all logic from me. I forgot the suffering wasn't mine. Then the voices came next...

I promise to update soon, please stay tuned and tell me what you thought.