That time I got sucked into a virtual circus with no way out, might as well make friends along the way. (Chapter 1)
“The hardest things to achieve are usually the ones that matter most, like picking up a new hobby or sticking to a schedule. Or going to therapy.
It takes a lot to even think about going, let alone actually going.
But it works out; you did it! You keep doing it. You may not figure everything out immediately, but that’s okay.
What I want to say is…don’t give up just yet...Unlike me.”
A woman sat in her chair at her desk, gazing at her computer screen for a moment while leaning back in her comfy seat. She wondered if what she wrote sounded good. It felt unfinished.
Writing a bit of a soliloquy, if you could call it that, by jotting down her thoughts. It helps her avoid being overwhelmed by the many ideas crowding her mind. She was following her therapist's advice to jot down notes, so she wouldn’t forget anything and could understand what was happening in her head.
Sometimes they draw together. Drawing helps her open up, allowing her therapist to explore what's bothering her.
Now we follow this lovely young lady at a raw point in her life. With her hair growing back, she styled it into afro puffs. Her gaze was distant, those bright green eyes staring at the glowing screen of her computer, as if her thoughts could be projected onto it.
She wrote to distract herself from something she had been obsessing over, a fascination with the macabre or disturbing.
She became intrigued by an abandoned business, C&A. There were only a few stories online about it, how it vanished suddenly with no details, and no one who had worked there remained in any written source. It was then she decided to make that her coup de grâce
This only fueled her curiosity. Why would a company that was developing software try to create a semi-sentient AI and then just disappear without a trace?
There was just one problem: the flagship location was far from where she lived, and she desperately wanted to go there. But she had no one to stay with.
She just wanted to leave her house behind.
So, after some time, she decided not to let her obsession control her life and ruin what she had built…
That was until someone from Craigslist sent her an email a while back. They chatted for a bit, and he seemed just as obsessed with this as she was. He told her about someone he knew who had used a product from the company and then vanished without a trace.
The only thing left behind was this headset he kept talking about, and the guy was pretty sure it was broken, too. And he just didn't want any reminders of his ex around..
He offered to sell it to her as a keepsake…
At that point, the woman felt unsure, even questioning whether it still worked. She paced around her room, a habit of hers due to the circle pattern in her wooden floor. Biting her nails, she stopped to stare at the screen with the email open in one tab.
Her therapist did say a bit of escapism would help her forget…
So here she sat, writing something that felt meaningless while she waited.
Then a week and some change.
She started to wonder if she had just been scammed out of 800 bucks…which made sense. Of course, this would happen, getting suckered out of her rainy day funds.
'Great,' She thought. 'Couldn't just let me have this before-'
Until her ring camera app pinged today. She hardly ever got visitors, given that she had no friends or family. So this was likely the delivery person. Dressed with piercings and wearing the typical mail carrier hat and uniform, at least she recognized this one.
“Oh, you got one of these too, Miss?” The voice sounded androgynous.
The woman hummed, chuckling a bit. “Yeah, I’m coming now. Hold on…”
As she approached the door, she noticed how huge and somewhat new her house looked.
She opened the door with a gentle smile. The mail person greeted her in the usual way, making jokes about a game they were playing. They teased those who complained it was too difficult and then pressured the developers into making an easier boss.
“Have you played it yet?” They asked as the green-eyed lady signed the papers.
The woman grinned. “Of course I have. I’m actually on part three of it.” She finished signing with a flourish.
“Already?! It just came out six days ago…impressive,” They laughed, sharing a moment before handing over the package.
After they said their goodbyes, the woman quickly closed her door, staring at the peculiar box in her hands. She trembled slightly, unsure if it was from excitement or fear…perhaps both.
Everything changed from that moment onward.
Seeing the headset and feeling relieved that she hadn’t been scammed.
Then putting it on a shelf because it was a keepsake.
Yet, she kept looking at it.
What if it does and fries her brain?
She picked it off the shelf.
Stared at it as it seemed to stare back.
She glanced around her room…at certain items.
The pain of everything crept in again.
She threw on the headset and plugged it in.
The seconds of nothing felt generous, like she could just walk away from it.
The headset clattered to the floor.
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Creator note: I hope you like the story, I'm going with an AU here so any inconsistences you see mean nothing in this AU. This is sometime after the fast food episode.
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