I think we all imagined getting here differently. For me, I came in a train, the cars suspended under a monorail. To me, that seemed futuristic, and seeing a distant cyberpunk city emerge from around the mountain was just where my head was at. That seemed cool.
I'm sure others came differently. Some people might have just taken a plane, others might have driven a flying car, or a rocket. Some might have skied down a massive hill, braving the cold and snow.
That was the whole point, of course. The only limit was your imagination. When you were here and plugged in, the world was anything you wanted it to be.
Our group was small, only six people plugged into the machine. I was part of the small group of influencers, our task clear. Spread the word as far and wide as we could so the richest people in the world would spend their money and live out their wildest fantasies. Aside from us, we had a man with cancer, probably for PR reasons, a singer out of France, and Sam, the tour guide.
The demonstration was only scheduled for ten minutes.
"But don't worry," Sam was saying, "The computer processes everything so much faster than the human mind can. When you're plugged in, it works with your brain, and it processes your thoughts for you. You can live entire lives in just a few minutes, and you can do whatever you want."
"Still," the singer asked, "Why only ten minutes?"
Sam gave a corporate laugh, "I suppose," he started, "I could give the safe answer, say it's still new technology, we're still working out the kinks and don't want to over strain it- but that's boring. Let me say this instead: Ten minutes is more than enough to blow you away."
I don't understand how the computer made sense of everything. At all. I was in some futuristic city, and I heard Sam talking to the singer about how she'd come through a library. I'm certain we were all seeing different things, our worlds wildly different, but the six of us had gathered and began to look between each other.
A few, I noticed, had already started to play with their imagination. Dan was no longer sickly, his hair no longer gone. His weight had doubled in muscle, and his skin was fuller, tanner, like he'd gone his whole life without the disease. Natalie, another influencer, had been more subtle. Her face was a little less masculine, the jaw more rounded. The stubble on her upper lip seemed waxed clean, and her smile seemed a little more sincere.
"I'm glad everyone could join me," Sam said, wearing that same PR smile, "And I'm happy to see some of you are already starting to play."
Dan was still looking around. I have no idea what he was seeing, but his jaw had fallen as far as it could.
"Do you seriously mean," he began, "We can do anything? I could live like the rich and famous? Have a yacht? Live like a playboy?"
"Anything," Sam agreed, "And so much more. When I say anything, I truly mean anything. All that, that's stuff you could do in the real world, given the right circumstance. In here- you could be the yacht. Control the weather. Have super powers. That's the whole point. We process your imagination in real time and let you live out your wildest fantasies."
Kyra, the other influencer, stepped forward, "Everything feels so real."
Sam laughed, "It's as real as anything else. It's just stimulating your brain, the same way it works in the outside world. To you, there's no difference at all."
He paused and took a look around the awestruck group. "Maybe we need a demonstration. Brynlee, come here."
I took a step towards Sam. I tried to see something genuine in those soulless eyes, but everything about him seemed fake.
"I want you to shoot fire out of your hands."
The notion sounded ridiculous. I raised my hand slowly, and tried to concentrate on flames. It barely took a moment's thought and a flamethrower came gushing. I watched as the eyes around me went wide, and Sam burst out laughing.
"And don't you think," he continued, "We could use a few more people here? I mean, for you it's a city right, is six people really enough? Try to imagine some friends."
I don't know if it was him or me, but the city roared to life. We weren't a small group of six anymore, we were a city of millions, all going about their day, as if the city I'd dreamt up had been here for generations.
"And let's all get on the same page," Sam said. He raised his hand and gave a single snap. The world shimmered, and the others saw the same thing as me.
"Woah," Natalie muttered, most jaws hanging open.
