Maybe she was right about this planet. Maybe this place is a simulation. Could it be possible? And if so, what does that say about me?
I am not a fucking robot.
No way. No how.
I have memories. Experiences I hold dear. I bleed too.
But I am trapped in this endless cycle as she now is with me. This world is becoming a part of me, attaching to me, infecting my mind. The longer I spend here, the faster I feel my sanity slip away.
I can’t lose hope. That would be the end of me.
She startles f
orward, nearly tripping as the plain rises to shattered concrete. She gazes upon the city. Buildings as tall as skyscrapers loom over our heads, but there is an evil lurking here, an emptiness that sends shivers through the heart.
“My God,” she whispers. “They built this. The characters are taking over.”
She goes on about the characters building universes, a fear that permeates her thoughts. They’ll take over, she tells me. It’ll never end.
And that’s precisely my fear. I believe her now. The hunters, the cultists, the beasts inside that gruesome maze – they are all characters.
But this is different. The stakes feel higher. If this world was only populated with character cyborgs, I wouldn’t be so frightened.
I’m not sure she’s taking this seriously.
I’m not even sure she believes I’m real.
But none of that matters right now.
I’ve been duped. Programmed to find a mate, exploited for my sexual prowess. My struggle, my pain, and my choices only led me further into my own prison, a dead end.
The more I see, the more I begin to understand. This place is… me. Synergy.
This world is my old world, twisted by my memories. A horrifying mirror of experiences I’ve led.
Ava’s thoughts are now intertwined with mine. Our hopes and dreams, different as they may be, form an alliance. And this place, whatever the fuck it is, knows who we are. It’s building as we speak, creating a symbiosis between us.
This is the infection I had spoken about, but I had no idea it was this bad.
Those Earth Federation scientists must have known this would happen. They knew I’d be foolish enough to bring her here. And now, I fear this is out of my control.
I fucked up. Majorly fucked up.
If we lose our way, we’ll never be able to leave.
Desperate, I turn around and search for the cavern we came through, but it’s now absent, as if it never even existed. Just another patch of land. A tree. The wind.
There’s no going back. Only going forward.
Can’t say I’m not used to that choice.
Without another word, I step back, stunned by my naivety. Soon, I feel Ava’s hand tenderly caress my back, lips folding over my skin for a kiss that feels undeserved.
“It’s okay,” she says. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”
I exhale, thinking, unable to stop my mind from racing.
“And if we don’t leave,” she continues, “we can just stay here. We can build a life. A better life than the one outside.”