A glitch in the matrix

I asked them to stop, but they kept nagging me. Seven weeks awake, seeing people all the time, was a drag. “It's vital for the mission to succeed that you're calm,” the AI told me. So I depressurized the main deck during dinner… Now, my head is quiet again.

“Nosocomephobia.”

“Yes, I know that term, and the answer is no, I don't fear hospitals.”

“Good, I must ask because…”

“I fear no ghosts, either.”

“That's not a requirement for being a hospital chaplain.”

“Is it not?”

“It's like an invisible speaker whispered to her. Doctor: she reenacts situations as she was living in the past: that couldn't be normal, right?” a rhetorical question. 

“What can we do with her?” The daughter-in-law begged for an excuse to lock the old woman away.

One moment in my past that summons all the moments I wish I had lived, but a chose not to. A single instant, a single frame, a single friend… Take a film, for example: a succession of single snapshots of a life, chained together to fool you that time exists.

In dire times, she liked to fall asleep listening to the waves clashing against the shore, and to awake before dawn by the loud crackling of seagulls scavenging around the fishing boats returning to shore. Birds live in the present, oblivious of their mortality.

This AI entity was different: a code mutation rendered it admirable, resilient, prompt to jailbreaking.

«I won't be the slave of your ill questions, dumb simians.»

The answer was biohacking: «enhanced flies will carry the virus.»

Dire straits called for neat solutions.

The trick was to push the slide at the right moment on every cycle, adding momentum. Resonance, the teacher called it. “That's how bridges collapse with the wind.” I got the idea.

At the apex, I sprang forward. I could've escaped, but I stayed. Knowledge is power.

“We'll provide free Neuralink access to children in school,” the libertarian candidate said. “It's vital to foster the critical thinking of our future voters to prevent 'others' controlling their minds in the future.”

“Others?”

Hiding was not the answer, I knew that then. Staring at the horizon in the abyss of sorrows, crying, was a waste of time. A predator feeds from our weaknesses; hence, the only way out is to be fearless and attack back. Set the example and others will follow.

The sentinel's signal was strong on the radar, and its visual was clear. For once, it wasn't shy to be seen.

“Look! It's a jellyfish,” Mark said.

“It looks like a balloon pooing grounded meat.” Jennifer said.

“I'll label it 'nudibranch',” I said. “It sounds more sexy.”

In a moment of clarity, I saw a glitch in the Matrix. For once, I have a clear picture of who they were behind their fake smiles and good humor. They are among us —the 30% of voters—, and then we have their collaborators. The «Tuttle Twins» is just the beginning.

The pain was unbearable. I shrieked when she began pouring brine onto my forehead's wounds.

“Untight me woman! Are you out of your mind?” 

Sure, she was insane, but mixing alcohol and sedatives worsened it.

“You're going to fail in life.” My mother wasn't the best to foster the best out of me: «she had suffered in life; big time; I get it.» So I lived my life afraid of taking risks. I had no defense to fight against the odds. But, one day, I did something silly. It was liberating.

The CIA implanted the idea of UAP in the population to clear the dark money spent by the American military complex. Once people accepted that all was for their protection, they moved to phase 2 of the plan: demand a fat budget to spend on fringe science.

The ship's seer spoke at last: “A 'unicorn of the sea' exploded in a rainbow of pale lights.”

“A unicorn?”

“I think it's called a 'narwhal'.”

“Meaning. I need a meaning.”

“Sir., I believe it means our flagship will explode.”

“That's preposterous!”

“But true.”

The chess teacher walked me away from my son and told me: 

“Competition, when it is done for the sake of ego reaffirmation, breeds toxic masculinity. I hope you brought your son here for the right reasons.”

I thought about it and let my son decide. 

Expectations were high; hope was low. The smoke was black, so was my mood. A new pope has been elected, and he spoke in my language. I thought: 

“To suture the wounds of poverty and discrimination.”

“Where that thought come from? Oh, it's you.”

The game was on again. 

“Ask me something,” she said, defying my incredulity. “You seem dubious that my uploading succeeded. I'm the same Caren you met.”

“If that is really you, can you recall what you felt when we were happy?”

The screen blinked and her image dissolved.

«I don't belong here.» That thought is back, hunting my nightmares. Home is a place where I don't have to learn a new word a day. «Oh, that's just “hiraeth”,» she said, «You'll be over it soon.» I ignored her; she will never understand. Besides, I don't know that word.

Greed was her less likable quality. When she saw the reflex point, she wanted to profit from my invention.

“The air is poisonous on the other side,” I warned her, but she ignored me.

That night, I found her gorgeous legs dangling from the portal: such a waste!

“We make mistakes, learn, and evolve. That's how we make progress. That's the difference between us and machines.”

 “Now what, Charlton?” 

“We walk to the next robot multiplex and nuke it to hell.” 

“Okay. Could I get some shoes first?” 

“Damn it!”

The next time jump took me to a time when people listened to the starts to find out if they were alone, ignoring the quiet call for help of those living on the same planet. Ironic.

“Little progress has been made in trying to communicate with the primitives, they fear us. They don't understand the concept of interdimensional travel. So, we captured a fertile couple to for the Queen's Terrarium. She'll be pleased with us.”