Today’s the day. I’m finally old enough to pick my fate. I’m eighteen, it’s crazy to think after today my whole life is going to change. After today, I won’t be eighteen, but everyone has this day. We don’t question it, we look forward to it. Today is the day we begin the rest of our lives. We forget where we came from and just begin.
Well, here goes nothing.
I open the door and see a bright light. It begins to fade, and I see four doors. These are my four options, my four fates. Here I go.
Opens door one...
Is that my mom? She’s holding a baby? Is that me? I thought we can’t go back in the past.
Opens door two...
Who is that? Why is she crying? Is she me but older? What happened? I thought these were all supposed to be good fates.
Opens door three...
Who is he? It’s the same girl who was crying in door two, she must be. Are we married? Are those our kids?
Opens door four...
She’s me. There has to be an error. There should be one more door, this is a reflection. She’s me right now. It has to be a glitch. This doesn’t make any sense.
“Hello? Operator? Is anyone there,” I say beginning to panic?
This girl is starring at me, I’m staring at me. This isn’t possible. She’s saying everything I’m saying which means she’s probably thinking everything I’m thinking.
PICK ONE. 60 SECONDS...
Why can I see me? Can she see me? They’re all looking at me.
“HELP,” I scream!
They begin screaming for me.
30 SECONDS...
The girl in door four begins speaking to me.
“Come here. They won’t keep you in door one. It’s an illusion. You won’t even make it two years if you choose door two. In door three he’s not even real, those kids aren’t yours. He never loved you. But, I’m real. Come here, trust me. It’s going to be okay,” she blurts out quickly yet calmly.
10 SECONDS...
She pulls me into the room and it goes black. I don’t see anything. She turns on a light. All I can see is a bed, pillows, and a video camera in the corner.
“Hi Jennifer, I’m you and your me,” she says.
I stare at her in shock, completely frozen.
She continues, “I know this is a lot to take in but listen. We’ve gone through that day multiple times and every single time we end up here. You end up here with me. The system, they messed up our fates. I’ve tried each of them and it all starts over. They end miserably. That’s not what our government promised us. Our technology is supposed to elite, the best. But our fate, it’s the first flaw in the system.”
“Where are we,” I demand!
She replies, “We’re in a vacant apartment. It’s still the same day you turned eighteen. The first few times I, well you, I mean we went through this glitch we ran back to mom and dad. But, they couldn’t hear me or see me. Every time we made it back home mom was distressed and crying in dad’s arms. The government called them and said you picked a door but every time we haven’t picked a door. This, what we’re experiencing right now, what you’re experiencing right now will last 72 hours and then the cycle repeats. We’ve been stuck in this for years. I can’t find the glitch. But about 6 months ago, I watched myself enter the simulation. I began to notice that once the 5 second mark hit a gas was released making us die. I assume the glitch is that we’re even alive.”
“So, I’m dead? There’s no fate for me,” I cry?
“I don’t think anyone ever had any fates. I think the government used it to manage population control. I think our friends growing up and our family growing up were simulations. This isn’t the real world. But there is a real world out there who’s running these simulations and we need to find it,” she uttered.
“Well, it looks like we have 72 hours. Considering I feel like I’ve never been here before, I’m pretty sure my memory erases each time. Let’s end this glitch and get out,” I said.
I got up and grabbed her video camera in the corner. It looks like there had been hundreds already filmed but I began,
“Hi, my name is Jennifer Posen. I’ve been stuck in a simulation for the past 18 years and I’m going to find a way out. I’m going to find the people who put me here. I’m going to create my own fate.”
48 hours later...
You wake up and hear something.
*video camera footage plays in the distance*
“We found it, we found it! If you’re hearing this listen to me, you’re in a simulation. When you wake up, don’t go to your fates. Go to the vacant building on Norris Rd. that everyone tells you to stay away from. We were all kidnapped and put here, go to the building and go through the blue door. You’ll find your way back to your real home. You’ll create your own fate.