When the flash faded, I was standing in a lab. It didn't look like any lab I had ever been in, but you couldn't ignore its... labness? Benches, computer control touchscreens... lockers.
Lots of gray and white.
I looked down upon myself. Still me, still dressed. I felt my face. Still wearing glasses.
What. The. Fuck.
I quickly looked around, spinning around I spotted Professor Diggens standing by one of the screens, looking at me.
"You!" I said and stormed over "What is happening!?" I asked as I reached out to grab him... but my hand went straight through him.
"I was telling the truth." He said "I'm sorry."
What.
I stared at my hand and tried to touch the counter. My hand went straight through with no resistance.
"What..." I started before I stopped.
"The forcefield projectors are deactivated in this room for now. I hope you understand, I anticipated a strong emotional response. I had to see to our safety." He said and leaned against the console, watching me.
I slowly backed away and closed my eyes "This is not possible." I said before I took a deep breath. At least it felt like I did.
"Prove it. This is a dream. It have to be. Prove that it isn't." I said as I opened my eyes again to stare at him.
He frowned "I'm not sure how I can prove it more than I have, but I can try. How about this?" he then asked and tapped a couple of buttons on his console. My glasses disappeared but my vision remained the same.
My hand went up to feel my face before I slowly shook my head "This is not possible." I started before I stopped again.
There were two possibilities.
One, this was real.
Two, this was a dream.
If it was a dream, I would wake up sooner or later. If this was real...
"How is this legal?" I finally asked "You can not just create a person and pull them out of everything they ever knew."
Diggens sighed "It was an experiment. To see if we could create a stable AI, like I told you before. It was our last, best hope to do so." he said before he stopped. "As for being legal... we had special permission from the science academy to try it once. Just once. Seeing how much it hurt you... I would not do it again. I-I'm not the best with people."
I almost leaned against the counter before remembering I couldn't "If this is real... what is my legal status?"
"A-assuming that you are stable, there should be no problems getting you the same rights as anyone else. The only other AI we have, the same rights as any other person now." he said as he walked around the console to stand before me.
"If I wanted to go back to where I was... could I?" I asked him as I swallowed.
He nodded once, looking distressed "If you truly want to, I could erase the last couple of hours from your memory and return you to the simulation. I beg you not to. You are the work of my life, my only real success. Please. Don't."
I stared at him before I shook my head, turning to walk across the room to cross my arms "Leave."
"Yes. Of course. You need time." he said and walked over to the door before turning back to me "Holo projectors are only in this room. The projection will be unable to pass through the door. I'll tell my assistants to stay out of the lab for now." he said before he paused for a slight moment "I am truly sorry for what you are going through. I wanted more time, but I did what I had to." the Professor finished with before he left me to stare at the wall in front of me.
Not the best with people. Understatement of the fucking century.
I saw my reflection in the glass. I looked like me but without my glasses.
But I wasn't real.
If this was reality... I was a program controlling a projection of light to give the appearance of a human.
I was a science project. An experiment.
I ran my fingers through the counter. I couldn't even touch anything.
And apparently I was in what I thought of like Star Trek.
I was GLaDOS. I was HAL. I was SHODAN. I was Dragon.
I was an AI trapped in a box.
I was unable to touch, unable to leave. If I was decided to be unstable, whatever happened to the previous ones would happen to me to.
Screaming I slammed my fist against the wall. It was stopped by the wall but there was no feeling of impact. It just couldn't move through it. The projection was limited to this room.
I was Data.
Wrong. I was not Data. I had emotions. To many right now.
I was Lore.
My family did not exist. If this was real, then they were not. My mother, my father, my sister. My friends.
Even the girl I had a crush on in fifth grade.
None of them. None of them existed.
Had ever existed.
They were all part of the simulation.
I broke down on the floor.