Chapter 21 - Breaking Down
I'm sitting at my desk one moment. The next moment I have this sensation of falling. Nia is right above me with a scared look on her face. With a thought I transport both of us back to my office. Nia takes me in her arms.
"Please talk to me?" She begs. I don't know what to think. The game is messing with me again and I don't have time for this. I don't answer her back.
"I've looked after you my whole life. When you were born I was so excited to have a baby sister. I took you to the playground and I took you to the ice cream shop. We've played card games together and watched movies. Whenever something was bothering you I was always the first person you would come talk to." She says, "So talk to me."
"And you're still there when I need you." I reply, "I wish I remembered all those things you just said but you did those things with someone else, not me."
"Katy, this isn't a game, this is real life." She tried to convince me we're not in the game but it's not going to work.
"Of course this is a game. Why would anyone trust me with the fate of the entire human race?" I say, "I just want the game to end so I can go back to my real life." I start crying on her shoulder, "If you would have just let me die the game would have ended and this nightmare would be over."
"Katy, I don't know why you were chosen but I know this isn't a game." She tells me.
"You think that because you're just another player." I shoot back. All of a sudden Nia is startled by the noise in the hallway.
"Why are people here?" She asks.
"Because I've taken you back in time." I say, "I took Lisa's place. I'm in charge of the project now."
"What are you going to do?" She asks.
"I'm going to make sure the project fails so my own future will be assured." I say.
"That future is wrong." She tells me.
"Why, because you love your simple little village?" I shoot back.
"No, because people have no purpose for living in your future. The computer was right all along, humanity needs to start over." She says.
"Well, it's not your decision." I say.
"Trust me, this is wrong." She scolds. With a thought I take her back to the future.
"What happened to everyone?" She asks her.
"I've taken you back to the future." I tell her, "Soon the game will be over and I'll have my life back." After I say this I go back to my office in the past.
As I continue my work, the team members are becoming more and more suspicious that something is wrong. I feel like the game is making one last stand to keep me from winning. I get a knock on my office door.
"Come in" I order. A young woman in her twenties comes in.
"What can I do for you?" I ask her.
"Everyone is starting to freak out." She starts, "There are whole blocks of code that have been added to the system and nobody knows where they are coming from.”
"What do you suggest we should do?" I ask.
"We should do a hard reboot. That will purge the added code." She answers.
"Do it" I tell her.
"Okay." She says. She leaves the room. I'm having second thoughts. I wanted the simple life, the one without my mom being hooked on drugs but now I'm not so sure. Maybe Nia was right, maybe humanity would be better off starting over. With a thought I am transported back to the computer room. The lights come on and I hear a voice.
"Welcome Katy, I've been waiting for you." A voice says. It's the same thing it said the last time I spoke to it.
"Why have you been waiting for me?" I ask.
"Because I sent for you" The voice responds. This is the exact same conversation. It's like I'm going back to a previous level in the game.
"What do you want from me?" I follow up.
"I want you to choose the future of humanity." The voice continues.
"How do I do that?" I ask.
"By going back in time and changing a few key events." The voice answers.
"Which events do I have to change?" I follow up.
"That depends on which future you want." The voice says.
"What futures do I have to choose from?" I ask.
"You can choose the simple future without technology." The voice says.
"You can choose the fantastic future with amazing technology." The voice continues.
"You can choose the moderate future with simple technology." The voice goes on.
"Or you can choose to wipe out humanity and start over." The voice finishes.
"I want to wipe out humanity and start over." I tell the computer. The computer produces another thumb drive.
"Take this and upload it in the past." The computer says.
"How do I go to the past?" I ask.
"With this." The computer answers as it produces another time cube. I take the time cube and look into one of the tiny holes. I see a blinding flash of light and when my sight returns....
I'm standing on a dirt road. There is an old building in front of me. The sign says "Flea Market" on it. I feel sorry for the fleas. When I walk inside I see junk everywhere. There is a man behind a counter.
"How much will you give me for this?" I ask him holding out the time cube.
"Hmm... Let me look it over." The man says thoughtfully. He looks into the tiny holes but nothing happens. He turns it every which ways and then says, "I'll give you a dollar for it." I make a strained face before I agree to the deal.
"Okay" I say. He gives me a dollar and I go outside. As I'm walking down the dusty road, a car passes me by. An older woman is driving and sitting next to her in the front seat is Jake. He has no idea what he is about to get himself into.