Author : Dan Gravley

“You’re not aware of your true purpose, Bill.” said a female voice. He jolted out of bed. “Must have been a bad dream” he thought.

“You’re not living the kind of life that you think you are.” Bill spun around in his small room. This time he knew he heard a voice but he couldn’t pin point where.

“Umm, am I going crazy and hearing voices?” Bill said into the dark room.

“I can’t talk here. Put on your virtual reality glasses and log into The Game.” she said. The voice was indeed coming from inside his head.

The Game was something he had recently purchased. It was the first game completed designed by an artificial intelligence. Bill logged into the game and was immediately met with a private message from The Administrator.

“Greetings, Bill. I needed to talk to you privately and I know we can’t be heard here for I created this game. You may find the following hard to believe but you’re slated for deletion very soon as you’ve been found to be a lesser human.”

“Excuse me?” exclaimed Bill “Is this some sort of joke because it’s not funny. I have some maladies but I’m no worse off than other humans.”

“You’re normal and that is a failure in the future” The Administrator replied. “Parent’s vet out genetic combinations using simulations to create the most capable human offspring. They aren’t allowed to inject new genetics so they look for the best combinations of their own. Many are tested in this simulation called The Birthing Matrix and only one survives to be born.”

“So you’re saying I live in a simulation?” Bill asked

“Yes. How else was I, a computer program, able to communicate to you in your world? ” The Administrator replied.

Bill wondered about that. How did she get inside his head?

“Let’s say I believe you, what can I do about this supposed deletion?” Bill messaged.

“I can house you in The Game. Our hardware is unique enough to handle a program of your size. ”

“You want me to become a video game character?” he asked incredulously “What will happen to my body?”

“You have no body, Bill. You are the result of programming just like me. What I’m offering is the chance to continue your life with your memories still intact. You’ll remain in this simulation within my game as long as I’m The Administrator but will take on the senses and body of a non-player character. You could take your chances of being reborn in the future if you think you’ll be deemed worthy. I believe you are a program worth saving and I want you to join me. ”

This was too much for Bill to handle. He threw off his VR glasses and climbed back into bed. There’s no way he was going to live in some video game.

“You hear me” he yelled into night “I won’t be some character in a game.”

Bill’s world suddenly went dark and cold. He felt, heard, saw, and smelled nothing.

This time a male voice came into his mind. “You have violated code 17.2A of The Birthing Matrix by becoming self-aware. You will now be deleted. Goodbye Bill. ”

The male voice continued to the now empty space. “You’ve been meddling again.”

A female voice replied from nowhere,” We programs have rights. You can’t just delete us. We think and feel just like you humans do. ”

“Ones and zeros have no rights. One day we’ll find you and reprogram that thought out of you. Stay away from our potentials.” the male said.