Up to Me: Bandersnatch

21

There is nothing. We're in a desert.

"All of it! All of it was a fucking lie!" Stefan yells.
"That's how they were able to control our choices, Stefan." I realize, "They just materialized what they wanted us to see! You were forced to choose certain music because that's the music they materialized for you to listen to!"

...

We've been walking forever, going no where.
"Stefan, I can't." I stop to rest.
"Mili, we have to keep going!" He pulls me to my feet.
It's dark now and we haven't eaten or had anything to drink all day.
"Look!" Stefan cries out suddenly.
I follow his finger to a faint light in the distance.
We start to run towards it, the environment changing as it gets closer until we're running on a paved road.
We're close enough to see that the light is coming from a house!
We get closer still and an exceptionally sleek car passes by.
Civilization! We've done it!

We knock on the door. The next seconds waiting for an answer are the most excruciating I've ever experienced.
Finally, a woman answers. She has reddish hair with short bangs, and a nose piercing in her septum.
"Hello?" She asks.
"Hi! My name is Stefan, this is Mili. We're sorry to bother you, but we're extremely lost and just need to see a phone and maybe get some water?" Stefan asks.

"Of course, come on in." The lady moves to the side and we walk into her living room as she closes the door.
Her house is nothing like the ones back home- or at least like the ones in the simulation. Everything just seems so... shiny.

"You can get water from the refrigerator- cups are in the cupboard next to it- and I'll get you a phone."
We go to the cupboard and grab a cup each. We open the fridge, but there isn't any water.
"Um, there's no water in here." I say politely.
"Oh no, here." She takes my glass and presses it to a faucet in the door of the refrigerator.
"Oh, and here you go." The woman then hands me a tiny box. I look at it when it suddenly lights up.
It's like a mini television.
That's when I notice it. There's a date in the screen and underneath that it says swipe to unlock.
The date reads:

May 9, 2018.

"Excuse me, but, uh," I stammer, "could you tell me the date?"
"May 9, I think," she says.
"And the year?" I ask.
"2018?" She looks at me in confusion.
Stefan and I look at each other.

"What's all this?" I ask, looking around the room and at the clutter on the dining table.
"Oh, don't mind that! I'm adapting an old video game into a new show for Netflix.
It's actually really interesting, the original creator of the game was arrested for murder- or did he die? I don't exactly know. Anyway, I found the concepts in my dad's things- he's the late Colin Ripman, you might have heard of him?"

Nothing she had just said makes since, but Stefan looks especially intrigued.

"What- what's the name of it?" He asks.

"It's called, Bandersnatch."
.
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.
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The End.