I'll level with you, anybody who knows me won't have much to say in my favour. I'm a loner. From the anime pillows to the dusting of Cheeto crumbs, that cushions the tip tap of my keyboard back home.
My name is Jim Goodman. I'm 27 and I work for Crystal Mind. A company that designs, creates, and distributes videos. We provide videos for psychiatric treatment, mainly.
The whole, stare into the spiral thing? Yeah, it actually works. But instead of a spiral, imagine a rapid current of moving shapes. Like a perpetually warping Rorschach test. You tell the 'patient' whatever it is you want them to change or do and hey presto, changed person.
It's a type of sensory deprivation. It gives the mind nothing else to focus on. Repeating mantras until they're ingrained into your cognitive programming forever. Quitting smoking, fear of spiders, uprooting past trauma; all done with the product that we produce. Except with vastly accelerated effects and better results.
Well, a company called Curiosity.ltd has been working on the most addictive game in history. VR as well. None of your candy crush nonsense. This was plastered everywhere. A game so real, you won't be able to put it down.
However, over the past few weeks, people working for the company have been going missing. Around the time the gaming company showed interest in our brand. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time but people were saying it was some publicity stunt. A marketing campaign to show how addictive the game was.
But I've seen the truth. It might not be too late to change what they've done and that's why I'm writing to you. I'm going to expose everything they've done. I'm the whistleblower. With your help, we can show the public an open wound. Get a lawsuit on our hands. You might even do it in time to save me.
So without further delay, here's what happened.
*****
Yesterday my boss told me that I had to go and make a sales pitch. I don't like to boast but I was easily one of his best marketers. He decided that I'd be the best man to send. It was fine with me. I get paid by commission so the more I accomplish the better.
My boss never said they were a medical association, I just assumed they were. I got into work early this morning. I grabbed my notes and my flash drive and left. My eyes were glued to my phone the entire way there. Squinting against the concave raindrops that distorted my screen. Painting the glass with thin rainbows as I wiped them away with my sleeve.
I pushed past the bustling hoard, scrambling to find a safe place to hide as the thunder began to roll in. Deliberately ignoring each glancing blow from every suitcase and backpack.
"You have arrived. " It announced, straining over the roaring downpour.
I ran past dejected onlookers as they stared defeated at the newly forming river in the alleyway. I was finally out of the deluge. As offices go, it was breathtaking. No chairs with broken wheels and no coffee-stained carpet.
The reception alone was about half a mile long. Arcade machines stretched the length of the room and stood formally with their backs against one wall.
They had: a cafe, a self-serving bar and even a tumble dryer. Neon lights imitated the shapes of various gaming mascots. It was light and fanciful. The building was one great big window.
A huge banner that stretched the full length of the room hung from the ceiling. With spectacular vibrant colours, it advertised an upcoming release. Depicted on the ad were two teenage boys wearing VR headsets, silhouetted by a harsh violet light that emitted from the TV in front of them. Their new slogan was slapped across the bottom in big red letters; taken straight from an 80's slasher movie.
My-Sight VR; A safe place in an unsafe world. Brought to you by Curiosity.ltd.
By then, I'd worked out that this client wasn't in the medical field at all. I'd heard their offers and pop-ups were endless. Emails inviting you to become a playtester or to invest in one of their modules. I never understood the hype around it.
Still, I had a good quarter of an hour before my meeting and I was soaked to the bone. I walked to the sign-in desk. A cry of frustration echoed through the room like a drip in a cave. Surveying the room, I saw one of their employees furiously pounding his fist against the console. He must've lost.
The receptionist smiled sweetly. She asked for my name and who I was there to see. Once I'd signed the visitor's book, she told me to sit down and wait for someone to come and get me.
"Thank you. Ah, would it be alright if I used your tumble dryer? I'm drenched and I'd prefer to be dry while I'm in there." I asked reluctantly. Nobody else was anywhere near them. I felt rather awkward.
"Of course, monsieur." She pulled a red ticket from under her desk. "Be sure to use this when you get there. It'll let the machine know you're one of us."
Before I left I gave a double-take. "One of you? In what sense?"
The woman behind the desk giggled. "It won't charge you for its usage."
I gave a sly wink. "Ah. Got ya'. Thanks."
I headed into the vacant dome that encased the washing area. Everybody was staying clear of the place. I could see why though. I guess you have to be a certain type of person to do laundry at work.
I thought, screw it. It wouldn't take long. Besides I was wearing my vest underneath and everyone else was business casual, I'd blend right in. So I undressed and tossed my shirt, blazer, and tie into one of the open tumble dryers. Folded the ticket carefully into the machine and with an elongated buzz, it gave the ticket back.
I waited a few minutes before it started to mix and bumble. I looked around sheepishly but to my delight, nobody was watching. I perched myself down on one of their sofas situated in the middle of the room. I didn't really know what to do with myself. The place was so open and I was starting to get a little paranoid.
I thought I'd be productive and go through the notes for my presentation. I'd made this pitch several times before but that didn't stop me rifling through my briefcase.
My memory drive was exactly where I usually put it, as were my notes. I was startled when a woman bearing the Curiosity.ink logo came over with a glass of water on a tray. I didn't hear or see her coming, she just appeared. 'You want water?' She proposed. I gave up on trying to look busy and accepted.
I was now the owner of an unwanted glass of water. I set it near my feet and kicked back for a while. The waitress seemed to hover nearby. Strategically spying behind plastic plants.
I thought she was waiting for me to leave so she could be the next lonesome victim in the laundry lounge. For her sake, I cut my spin cycle short. I slipped my suit back on. My clothes were warm, soft and dry enough. I would have to make do with soggy trousers.
I vacated the area and nabbed a comfy armchair near the bar. I'd occasionally throw her an awkward smile but it was met with a face of serious concern. I wondered if she was feeling alright. I checked my phone. I still had ten minutes.
Outside, the rain continued relentlessly. With nothing else to do, I helped myself to the free bar. I thought half a pint of cool larger would take the edge off.
I had no idea why I was so uneasy. It was like some kind of paranoia. I was convinced that there was something afoot but there was no logical reason behind it. I took hold of the cold steel tap and braced a plastic pint glass underneath it. I heard the immediate hurrying of heels clip-clopping their way over.
"Sir, sir!" It was the waitress from earlier. "I'm sorry sir, it's our policy that you drink a glass of water before consuming alcoholic beverages." She took the glass of water off the floor next to my chair and held it as exhibit-A.
