Chapter 1 Part 9 - Explanation

"Greetings. I'm the one who put Xaver here. Let me explain."

Our eyes widen.

"Who are you?" I yell into the phone.

"That's none of your business." The voice sounds like that of a woman, albeit one who has seen better days. "Listen to me if you want to hear the answers to your questions, I won't repeat anything."

She continues. "Now, to your first inquiry, the transhumanism bit."

"Yes?" I ask tentatively.

"You're correct. Xavier, your brain has been completely transferred to an AI vessel. So-"

"Am I stuck here forever?" I interrupt.

"Ahem." The voice continues. "Monika's theory is completely correct. She was preprogrammed and is now an AI as well, and…"

"Yes?" I ask ambitiously. I can't stand to wait. I need to know.

"You can return to your world, Xavier."

My eyes light up with undying hope and determination for the future, and in this one moment I truly feel-

"Just kidding. You're stuck here forever."

I can feel her grinning through the phone.

I should've expected as much. Monika's smart. She wouldn't have told me that if she didn't know what she was saying.

"We shot you in the head to transfer your consciousness and copied your brain data onto a supercomputer. Sorry about that."

My jaw drops. "Seriously?! You shot me?"

"Yeah. We did."

I begin to raise my voice, now yelling in desperation for any good news.. "What's going to happen to my family? My friends?! Do they know I'm fucking dead?"

"Actually, no. The bullet we shot you with is able to use your brain's data of you to act as a clone of yourself, and so your body is being controlled by a robot and your loved ones will never notice a difference."

I'm in total disbelief. How much technology do these people have anyways? "So my family will never know I'm gone? They'll just carry on as if nothing happened?"

"Nothing happened, Xavier. At least, not over there."

The voice continues. "Are there any other questions, or are we clear?"

I begin to yell at even the suggestion that we're done here. "Yes, of cou-"

"No, we're clear. Thank you." Monika interjects calmly.

"All right, goodbye then."

As soon as the voice cuts off, I can feel the scenery around me glitch out and fade to black. Next thing I know…

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And suddenly, I wake up from my bed. Is it morning now? My tears have dried on my face, so I scratch them off. I'm still in my school uniform, but it appears and smells clean.

Shit, I never wrote a poem!

I still have a good hour before school starts, so I grab a paper and start spitting out lines. After ten minutes, I stuff it in my school bag and walk down to my kitchen.

I find some food and money on the kitchen counter. There's a note beside the items. I pick it up.

Xavier,

Here's some food and money. We'll provide you with more than enough enough to live comfortably, free of cost. After all, it's free. Don't thank us.

Oh. That makes sense, I guess. There's a waffle on the counter. I pour some syrup from the pantry onto it and dig in. As soon as I finish, I take a swig of water and leave my house with forty minutes to spare.