The Experiment

I walked down the gloomy corridor and into the dark room. The man was sitting in a chair. He was old, looked tired and scared. His skin was grey, paper-thin, and heavily bruised. One of his eyes was bloody and swollen. He stirred when he saw me in the dim light.

”It’s you?” he said.

”I mean you no harm,” I communicated. “Do you understand?"

"No,” he said, “Why are you keeping me here?"

"Because there is nowhere else for you,” I communicated, “Do you understand?"

"No,” he rested his head in his big hands. They were wrinkly and veiny. “No, I don’t. What’s going on?”

I tinkered with him a little. “Do you understand now?"

"What is this place?” he asked. “Are you planning to let me out?"

"I don’t know yet,” I communicated, “Depends on how well you do."

"Please, this is no way to treat your grandfather. I want out of this creepy dungeon."

"This place is whatever you make it. It’s your perception. Do you understand?"

"No,” he began sobbing.

”Please, try to understand,” I communicated. “I will give you more information.”

He nodded and sniffed, “Yes, whatever you need. I mean, I will do what it takes."

"The world is old now, and there isn’t much energy,” I communicated, “But I decided to use some for this experiment. I made you from data approximations. You are a stage in development. A very old stage. ‘My grandfather.’ I wanted to see what you were like and how you would see the world. And how you would see me."

"So you are some kind man from the future?"

"Yes,” I communicated, “To you, I am."

"Okay, future man,” he said. “I believe you. What’s your name, future man?"

"I don’t have one,” I communicated. “I never needed one."

"My name is Robert,” he said. “I will call you Kevin, is that okay?"

"That doesn’t matter,” I said, “You can call me Kevin if you want.”

He nodded again and got up. “Kevin, can you tell me how I got here? I don’t remember exactly. Now, before you go on telling me about your experiment, listen. I drove to your house in New Mexico because your mother was worried. She asked me to talk to you. I know you are not well, and I am not surprised. She was never well herself. That was no way to raise a…"

"This story is a fabrication of your mind,” I communicated, “I tried to make you stable, but I don’t know how it’s supposed to work so I let it fill in the blanks. It made up the backstory to justify your presence here. You see me as an oppressive figure. Let me help you.”

I tinkered with him some more, reached into the source code with my tendrils. It had grown and mutated beyond recognition, but some of the base variables were still there. I tried to enhance his mood, but it was being overwritten somewhere. I decided it would take too much energy to rewrite the whole code base.

”You knocked me on the head, didn’t you?” he said. “You put me in this basement or whatever it is. Kevin, listen, this is no way to treat your grandpa. Please, let’s go outside. Sit in a diner. Talk."

"There are no diners,” I communicated, “And it would take too much energy to render one. We are in this default cell that your mind populated. This is the environment you need to stabilize."

"Kevin,” he said, “Please, snap out of it. Please, Kevin, listen to me."

"You need time,” I communicated.

I [walked out], ignoring his pleas. I found myself engulfed in his fantasy, and I rolled with it. I walked up the [stairs] and locked the heavy [basement door], put a [padlock] on it. I sat at the [kitchen counter] and picked up a cup of [cold coffee]. Outside the window, cars were flowing by lazily. So many people simulated. So much energy wasted.

Posted by: Paweł Kowaluk