Cyrus felt as if he was in a whole new world. Most things here were
made of resources that Cyrus had only seen once or twice…wood, plastic. Is
this some kind of upper-class region of Pong? From the second he entered
the Main Office Building he noticed a major temperature change, it was
very, very, warm. He also noticed he didn't fit in much. Most of the people
who he passed wore a cloth-fabric. No one but the escorting guards bore the
armor that most arena-residents did. Most were also very fat. Cyrus
remembered when it was legal for Paddles to see Controllers. These workers
weren't nearly as large as the Controllers, perhaps they were descendants.
He also took note of the large amount of books kept in this commercial
area. Cyrus once read a book. It was called "The Iliad".
Cyrus was led to a small elevator at the end of the first floor. He had much trouble adjusting to the carpet to on the way to his destination. The elevator doors slid open and the guards look somewhat dumbfounded that they all couldn't fit in at once so they sent each other in three group, Cyrus being in the second group going up. The experience was quite a strange one. His gut felt very strange and he was fairly nauseous on the way out. He noticed a sign on the wall:
SEVENTH FLOOR
IN-WORLD PSYCHOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH
ATARI MAIN OFFICE BUILDING
This floor was much different than the lower ones. It wasn't as decorative. A worn-out tiled floor and dull blue walls filled this level. Multiple offices stuck out here and there where Cyrus was guided through for some while. He was pretty sure the guards didn't know their way around, themselves. He was eventually brought to a hall of doors where he was shown to a door with another interesting sign:
724
DR.PERICA
PSYCHOLOGICAL
INVESTIGATION
Cyrus walked in and for the first time in a while the guards left him and stayed at the door. Cyrus walked down the tight entranceway totally unsure of where he was going. He was surprised to see how simple it was. There was just one room at the end of the short hall. A balding man sat in a chair next to another chair. Impulsively, Cyrus sat down in this chair.
"Hello Cyrus."
This caused Cyrus a bit of shock.
"How do you know my name?" Cyrus questioned, feeling like a stupid creature in this new environment.
"I was appointed to meet with you here. I am Dr. Perica and I would like to help you with this outburst you had on tues – recently."
Cyrus shot his head around waiting for some kind of trick to reveal itself. Nothing. "Well, let's get started then." He requested uneasily.
"Okay, first can you tell me was there any logical reason for this violent strike you made?"
"Well of course. I wanted to, and I had the chance to, so I did."
"That doesn't answer the question."
"Well than what do you want from me? As you know we work like slaves out there. Pushing our bodies to the limit and beyond for your entertainment. You are just clones of the Controllers again. If your life consisted of this tedious game-sport and that's all, not even sleeping, hell I can't even remember the last time I ate something…but if all you did was perform this slave labor and you were given the chance to break out wouldn't you?"
"Well under such circumstances yes but by no means needed did you have to strike that innocent…"
"After I realized I could destroy that barrier, which I never even knew was there, that thing would've shot me anyway so I might've just tried as many new things as I could in that short moment. You don't know what a feeling it was to break it, break everything my world has been restrained by."
"What did this other player do for you to get such satisfaction out of bludgeoning him? Was it that he was being over-competitive in the game?"
"YA KNOW, IF YOU WERE SMART YOU WOULD KNOW THAT THE FOCUS ISN'T ON MY RELATION TO MY…ugh…victim."
"Don't threaten me Cyrus. You know the guards are right out there. Look I don't want to…"
"DO YOU REALIZE THE INSANITY THAT IS BEING PERFORMED HERE?" Cyrus jumped up out of the chair and grabbed Dr. Perica by the collar of his shirt. "WILL YOUR MENTAL MEDICINE HEAL ME? I THINK NOT. I WILL USE IT. USE IT JUST LIKE THE DRUGS I USED TO BREAK THE BARRIER. I WILL BREAK THE BARRIER ONCE AGAIN!"
"GUARDS! GET IN HERE HELLLP!" Dr. Perica yelled.
The guards immediately stormed in. They saw Cyrus grappling Perica and opened fire. Cyrus threw Perica down and ran the only other way he could. He jumped out of the window. He managed to land on his feet but slipped and sprained his leg. Realizing it was a lot easier than he though. His agility gained in the arenas saved his life. But what pain he was in. He grabbed the left of his chest with his right hand. Blood. He had been shot. He looked down at his leg, also hit. He saw the guards come up to the window and he had to run. He struggled but managed to stand and ducked behind the side of the building he jumped from. He was afraid of the blood trail he left behind. He heard the guards "He's down there! He must've have hurt himself. Let's go around and get him."
Cyrus dragged himself through the complex of Atari buildings, uncertain of what would lie around every dark corner. He felt secure in this darkness underneath the strange twilight he had never seen before. He was no longer afraid of the guards. He wasn't afraid of anything he could think of. He was only afraid of never knowing what was around this corner. This corner and every other corner. Afraid he would not know, not learn, not realize.
Cyrus was led to a small elevator at the end of the first floor. He had much trouble adjusting to the carpet to on the way to his destination. The elevator doors slid open and the guards look somewhat dumbfounded that they all couldn't fit in at once so they sent each other in three group, Cyrus being in the second group going up. The experience was quite a strange one. His gut felt very strange and he was fairly nauseous on the way out. He noticed a sign on the wall:
SEVENTH FLOOR
IN-WORLD PSYCHOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH
ATARI MAIN OFFICE BUILDING
This floor was much different than the lower ones. It wasn't as decorative. A worn-out tiled floor and dull blue walls filled this level. Multiple offices stuck out here and there where Cyrus was guided through for some while. He was pretty sure the guards didn't know their way around, themselves. He was eventually brought to a hall of doors where he was shown to a door with another interesting sign:
724
DR.PERICA
PSYCHOLOGICAL
INVESTIGATION
Cyrus walked in and for the first time in a while the guards left him and stayed at the door. Cyrus walked down the tight entranceway totally unsure of where he was going. He was surprised to see how simple it was. There was just one room at the end of the short hall. A balding man sat in a chair next to another chair. Impulsively, Cyrus sat down in this chair.
"Hello Cyrus."
This caused Cyrus a bit of shock.
"How do you know my name?" Cyrus questioned, feeling like a stupid creature in this new environment.
"I was appointed to meet with you here. I am Dr. Perica and I would like to help you with this outburst you had on tues – recently."
Cyrus shot his head around waiting for some kind of trick to reveal itself. Nothing. "Well, let's get started then." He requested uneasily.
"Okay, first can you tell me was there any logical reason for this violent strike you made?"
"Well of course. I wanted to, and I had the chance to, so I did."
"That doesn't answer the question."
"Well than what do you want from me? As you know we work like slaves out there. Pushing our bodies to the limit and beyond for your entertainment. You are just clones of the Controllers again. If your life consisted of this tedious game-sport and that's all, not even sleeping, hell I can't even remember the last time I ate something…but if all you did was perform this slave labor and you were given the chance to break out wouldn't you?"
"Well under such circumstances yes but by no means needed did you have to strike that innocent…"
"After I realized I could destroy that barrier, which I never even knew was there, that thing would've shot me anyway so I might've just tried as many new things as I could in that short moment. You don't know what a feeling it was to break it, break everything my world has been restrained by."
"What did this other player do for you to get such satisfaction out of bludgeoning him? Was it that he was being over-competitive in the game?"
"YA KNOW, IF YOU WERE SMART YOU WOULD KNOW THAT THE FOCUS ISN'T ON MY RELATION TO MY…ugh…victim."
"Don't threaten me Cyrus. You know the guards are right out there. Look I don't want to…"
"DO YOU REALIZE THE INSANITY THAT IS BEING PERFORMED HERE?" Cyrus jumped up out of the chair and grabbed Dr. Perica by the collar of his shirt. "WILL YOUR MENTAL MEDICINE HEAL ME? I THINK NOT. I WILL USE IT. USE IT JUST LIKE THE DRUGS I USED TO BREAK THE BARRIER. I WILL BREAK THE BARRIER ONCE AGAIN!"
"GUARDS! GET IN HERE HELLLP!" Dr. Perica yelled.
The guards immediately stormed in. They saw Cyrus grappling Perica and opened fire. Cyrus threw Perica down and ran the only other way he could. He jumped out of the window. He managed to land on his feet but slipped and sprained his leg. Realizing it was a lot easier than he though. His agility gained in the arenas saved his life. But what pain he was in. He grabbed the left of his chest with his right hand. Blood. He had been shot. He looked down at his leg, also hit. He saw the guards come up to the window and he had to run. He struggled but managed to stand and ducked behind the side of the building he jumped from. He was afraid of the blood trail he left behind. He heard the guards "He's down there! He must've have hurt himself. Let's go around and get him."
Cyrus dragged himself through the complex of Atari buildings, uncertain of what would lie around every dark corner. He felt secure in this darkness underneath the strange twilight he had never seen before. He was no longer afraid of the guards. He wasn't afraid of anything he could think of. He was only afraid of never knowing what was around this corner. This corner and every other corner. Afraid he would not know, not learn, not realize.