"...and then she just jumped. Like in the game."
"What game?" I ask too grumpily, give the kid some slack, her friend just died for Christ's sake.
"Free Fall, by Imager."
I write the name down on my notepad, "Free Fall, and that's Imager, I. M. A. G. E. R.?"
"Yeah whatever. Can I go now?"
"Not yet. Tell me about this game. Is it a VR game, like a 'vega' that what you kids called 'em right?"
The girl gives me the 'like der' look as if I know nothing, "It's just the most kill experience ever, everyone's playing it."
"Well, I'm not. What do you do in this game?"
"First you enter The Environment..."
[and there it was, 'The Environment'. When I was a kid, the environment was something you stuffed up. Today it's a substitute for real life]
"...and then choose a location: a waterfall or the top of a building or something like that; and then you jump." The girl gave a little jump as if that would help explain the concept to me. "It feels just like real life."
"So this is how Elena died, she just jumped?" I gesture with my hand, "just like she would in that game?"
"Yeh. It was like she was free falling." Suddenly downcast, realising that her friend wasn't coming back, "She just jumped".
***
Weeks have passed since young Elena jumped off the scenic platform. Since then I've had to investigate four other all but identical cases of mostly kids jumping for no reason, other than they could. Jumping and landing badly: one from a bridge; two from buildings; and one from a moving express.
***
It's not just this city either; kids all over the world are jumping. The media call it a pandemic free fall (their sensationalism makes me sick) and parents are rioting in the streets over the company that's killing their children.
I pull up Elena's coroner's report on my vid and a photo of her (before the jump, thank God) pops up in the corner. I skip to the summary findings and read the words 'accidental death caused by environmental delusion'. I look to her young face when it was so full of opportunity and think, Sweet Elena, you hit the ground, but it was the fall from reality that killed you.
.fin
(391words)
YOU ARE READING
FLASHed
Short StoryDon't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds ... this is just a few of my flash stories. Each write around 1000 words from a range of science fiction, fantasy and horror genres (22 SF, 2 F, 1 H).
