Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer

Carlo looks about suspiciously, looking for those he knows are watching his every move. Turning his gaze back to Doug, he takes a drag on his vape before continuing, talking through a cloud of strawberry-scented fog.
“You see it’s all an illusion. That’s the thing they’re hiding. We’re just here because they set it up like this, you know, it’s like the Matrix and 1984 rolled up and all the greys have lizard eyes.”
Doug frowns.
“Don’t quite follow. So you’re trying to wake up?”
Carlo nods.
“You got it. Wake up so you can see the tiles that make up the sky and the frozen mountains around the edge of the world. See the overlords for what they are, reveal the universal truth and rob them of their power.”
Doug takes a sip of his coffee, pulls a face and pushes it aside, then leans closer.
“You sure about that? I mean, if they built this place, they’re not to be messed with. How many of them are there? How many can they call on? There’s a lot of people on this world, flat or not.”
Carlo reaches out to snag the rejected coffee, then shakes his head.
“No, mate. That’s the thing. Most of what look like people are just programmed shadows. Hollow people, soulless, put here to distract us.”
“So you’re one of a small group of real people?”
“Spot on. Because, like, we question. If whoever you’re talking to doesn’t question things or refuses to see the truth, chances are you’re dealing with a shadow.”
Doug nods, then raises a finger.
“How do you know I’m not one of those hollow shadow people?”
“Because you’re talking with me, mate, not telling me I’m crazy.”
“So this world we see right now is a huge simulation. Hologram or virtual reality?”
Carlo frowns, then snaps his fingers.
“It’s a mix. The sheeple are down in virtual, their unquestioning belief being used to bind their souls. The ones like you and me, we’ve got something they need, so we’re up here in hologram world. Well, better than a hologram. Got all the senses wired in, you know what I mean?”
Doug nods and takes a sip from his coffee. Carlo starts to take a sip too, then stops and looks at the coffee in his hand, down at his empty coffee cup, then points to the one in Doug’s hand.
“Where did that come from?”
Doug smiles. The cup vanishes from his hand. He takes a bite of the bun that replaces it, then talks while chewing.
“That glitch in your worldview is one we keep running into. I’m just trying a new fix.”
Carlo shakes his head.
“What?”
Doug leans closer.
“Did it ever occur to you that there’s nothing to wake up from? You’re a digital simulacrum of a random sentient brought into being to help us run the Earth Scenario through iteration twenty-eight billion and ten. If you literally ‘woke up’, you’d cease to exist.”
Carlo looks at him, aghast.
“That’s a bit far-fetched.”
“Says the walking, talking executable image known as Carlo who just told me I’m living in a hologram. Look, despite your torrential delusions, I like you. So, check your bank balance after you finish screaming. It’ll show a million pounds and forty-two pence.”
“Why will I be screaming?”
“Because you’ll have realised you don’t want to be awake anymore.”
Doug winks and disappears. The bun hangs in the air until Carlo focusses on it, then disappears with a faint ‘pop’.
Carlo starts screaming.