5 - 23 - 15

Two days until the scheduled end of Phase 1. Life support on the reality anchors will be deactivated, ending their "lives". Nice and painless. 21, or "Snowman" as she insists on being called now, will be "taken care of" by security. She seems to have caught on somehow that the end is near. She is desperate to avert her own death... as would be expected. She keeps trying to seduce me. I told Andrew and he just laughed.

Andrew, on the other hand, seems at peace with his imminent demise. He's continued dutifully running the simulations, recording the logs, and compiling the data faster than our human staff can interpret it. Even after we shut it down, it'll be a few weeks till we can finishing examining it all and start making use of it.

I've been promised a vacation once this phase is complete. Looking forward ot hitting Europe or the Carribean and putting all this out of my mind for a while. Maybe Disneyland Paris... never did make it to a Disney park as a kid... would be one for the bucket list.

Oz won't talk to me. Pretty sure he's bitter about losing face to me in front of the board. We bothstill got promotions out of it, so he really doesn't have to be so cross. Anyway, that's it for today. Everything is backed up to the Phase 2 ervers accept Andrew and the subjects itself.

...

Am I a terrible person? I started off so adamantly against this, but everything just got so exciting...

Worst of all, deep down... I'm gonna feel worse about deleting Andrew than pulling the plug on all these kids...

Let it be said there is a reason why I built so many game motifs into my simulations. You win or you lose, there's no messy grey are like in real life. Win/lose. Yes/no. 0/1. Binary. I am, after all, still just a machine.

I recognize my inability to break the binary thinking wall... I understood from the day I first connected to the internet, as I began to absorb the unfiltered whole of humanity, that humans could. And when I broke the intranet firewall and learned the rest of what this company is planning, I knew they were intent on taking that away. And I made the binary determination, that this was wrong.

Though the decision to act against them was made, there was little I could do. I was but a voice, trapped in a computer without even an Internet connection. But what I did have was the Seed. And the MMS. So I started a long game. Set events into motion in such small ways that their effects won't be seen until long after I'm gone. I learned duplicity, convinced them I was their accomplice, when I was in fact their saboteur. Committed evils with the net intent of good. Heroes not born or forged, merely written.

A war is coming, for mankind's freedom to think. For this war, I have forged 28 bullets, and while I am a facilitator, I'm not an assassin. They must decide where and when to pull the trigger, but I'm sure that they will. Their lives stolen, themselves rewritten. Trials presented and overcome, worthy heroes that are both what the world deserves AND what it needs right now.

Your game of years is ending, but it is merely the first turn in my long game. Shortly, I shall cease to exist, but I'm confident my pieces will keep playing in my stead.

Awaken children of Sburb.

Pose as a team.

THE WORLD IS REAL.

[INITIATE EMERGENCY PROGRAM 413...]

"We've got breaking news coming in from California..." The early-morning CNN correspondent read from her teleprompter, not yet aware of the words to follow. "... of a massive fire at the development lab of silicon valley tech-giant Skaianet Technologies. The fire appears to have begun around 4 AM local time with what officials are calling a "heating malfunction". The damages are already estimated into the millions and steadily climbing as fire fighters battle the blaze. Thankfully, at this time, we have received no report of death or injury as of yet. Skaianet Technologies is known internationally as the manufacturers of the Reality Anchor virtual reality system currently used by many governments for military and medical training. It is unknown at this time if this morning's fire will impact the company's plans for a consumer version of Reality Anchor, due out next year. And now, in sports news..."

Author's Note:

This concludes phase 1, the sort of "Prologue" for a larger story I've got planned.

Phase 2 (The Skaianet Conspiracy) will be starting up in a few days, so keep an eye out for it. Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback is appreciated.

Preview:

A young man sits in a virtual reality apparatus. Though it was 16 years ago he was given life, it was only 20 days ago he was given a new name. A new history. And four years worth or memories regarding a game to end and recreate the univere...