The road was dark on the side of the mountain as he drove. There was soft music playing on the radio. Jake felt a light touch on his arm and turned to look at his beautiful wife, Amelia. Her dark hair was impossibly darker due to the absence of the sun. It was night now after their long trip to visit his parents. Amelia signalled for him to look at the seats behind him. He craned his neck and caught the sight of his two young children with their heads down and their eyes shut. There was a slight bit of drool dangling from the lower lip of his daughter.
He turned back towards the road and resumed his casual drive along the mostly empty road. After a while he heard a slight groan from behind him and swivelled to see his seven year old son adjusting his position, all the while keeping his eyes closed as he peacefully slept. A slight smile crept along his face as a wave of love washed over him. He was still admiring his adorable kids when suddenly, Amelia yelled "Watch out!" Snapping him out of daze and making him immediately look back at the road.
He saw the huge, metal frame and bright headlights of a truck which must have come from around the corner of the rocky hillside not far ahead. Instantly, he gripped the wheel and swerved to the right, the force snapping him sideways. There was another car on the path he swerved onto but it veered away too late and it slammed into the front of the bonnet, shattering the glass. Happening within the blink of an eye, the truck then slammed on its breaks but to no avail and hit the back of the car, which was now perpendicular to the road. Jake felt something slam into his head and he blacked out.
He awoke. He felt his body lying on the rough concrete road. His vision was blurry. He was lying face down. He suddenly got hit with a wave of pain, running through his whole body. His vision became clearer. He saw pieces of metal and debris lying around him and heard the distinguishable, soft panting of fire. He saw there was orange light illuminating most of his vision but he couldn't move his head more than a few degrees to see where it was coming from, or what was on fire.
Then he spotted her: Amelia was lying lifeless in front of him. He tried to scream for her but all he could manage was a slight whisper. He tried to push himself up to stand, but collapsed in pain. He realised he couldn't feel his right leg. He tried moving it but couldn't. He stuck his arms out and began to crawl, dragging himself inch by inch closer to her.
"Amelia please." He whispered, tears now filling his eyes. He neared her and extended his arm to reach her outstretched hand. He grasped her blood-stained hand and held it. He squeezed it and whispered "Amelia no." His senses began to fade and he felt himself slipping away, as if his spirit slowly seeped out of him. Darkness began to consume his vision, and then, it all went black.
After a while he thought he awoke, but when he did what would have been opening his eyes, all he could see was darkness. Was he dead? It was a strange feeling. He still felt… himself, his own presence, as if he knew he was where wherever he was, but he couldn't move. Then, all of a sudden, two huge, bright red words flashed in front of his eyes. They read: Simulation complete.
Abruptly, a splash of light spilled into his eyesight, hurting his head and it grew. He had to close his eyes to avoid the pain, but the light still seeped through his eyelids. He began to slowly open them. He realised he was in a plain white room. His hearing started to return to him and he heard the sound of metal being moved. Then a man walked in front of him, wearing what seemed to be utility clothes. He reached above his head and Jake's head was yanked back slightly as the man removed something connected to him. When it disconnected, he heard the abrupt sound of gas releasing. It stopped. He tried to speak but all he could manage was a slight mumble.
"What was that? Don't worry the anaesthesia will where off soon." He said. He had a low gruffly voice. He continued to remove things above Jake's head. Then the man began to remove some restraints holding him in what appeared to be some metal exo-suit, platform thingy. He slowly lifted his hand held it in front on him. He still heard the man detaching things.
“Where… am I?” Jake managed. The man didn’t hear him. The large metal door at the front of the room slid open and a thin man in a suit holding a clipboard stood in the doorway. He took a step inside.
“Leave us” The man said sternly. The guy with utility vest, walked out the room, the door sliding closed behind him.
“Where am I?” Jake asked again, this time loud enough for the man to hear.
“Hello. My name is Lawson. I will answer all your questions. As for where we are, that will make more sense soon.” The man looked about middle aged but his voice seemed young.
“What’s going on?” Jake asked, beginning to get panicked. The oddness of what was happening just hit him.
“I shall explain everything, just calm down.” Lawson said. He continued,
“Your memories shall soon return but for now, your name is Mike Trevinsky. 3 years ago, you joined the special forces of the Republic of Terra, or to put it simply, the government of West earth.”
Jake, or Mike’s head was spiralling. He was so confused.
“When you joined the special forces, you were one of the best, the best we had ever seen.” Now that he mentioned it, Mike did realise that his arms looked bigger than what he was able to recover from his memory. “We picked you to be part of an elite squad of West earth’s best soldiers. But before we could accept you, we had to run a series of tests and experiments to test your true capabilities, the final of the tests being the one that you just stepped out of.” Mike had stepped off the slightly levitated metal platform he had just been on.
“If you are wondering how long you have been in there, it wasn’t years, don’t worry. It was only a month. We had implanted fake temporary memories in your brain so that it felt as if you were alive for 32 years.”
“Walk with me.” Lawson said. Mike obliged, following into the white, metal, decor depraved, corridor, lit by many fluorescent lights. It was bustling with utility workers and people dressed in what appeared to be office attire. After a short while, Lawson spoke again over the noise of the corridor, but he didn’t shout.
“As for where we are, we are in the military HQ of what used to be New York, known as Boltzberg HQ, in West Earth.” He stated.
“To put it simply, the world was desecrated by a third and violent World war. After the war, the world was split into two main governments: The government of West Earth and the government of the Eastern World, as they like to call themselves.”
They had reached a main lobby-looking area with a long desk in the centre and a robot on rails sliding around the desk and messing with papers and furiously typing away at what appeared to be an advanced computer. They carried on through a big glass door and outside. It was beautiful. Marble steps led up to the building, which was huge. The pretty orange sunset illuminated the sky which was littered with flying vehicles. Tall buildings reached up, as if attempting to reach the cars, but to no avail.
“That’s, why you are here Mr Trevinsky.” Turning to him.
“The Elite squad will be selected here, next week Wednesday. I expect you to be there. Thank for you time Mike. That man down there will take you to your home.” He said, pointing to a chauffeur standing in front of a car that looked like it was straight out of a science fiction movie.
“If you’ll excuse me I have things to do. Good day.” He bowed and walked back into the building.
The whole time the man was talking, Mike had said nothing. His mind was racing. Elite squad? He had already had a few glimpses and flashes of memories. He couldn’t quite make out most of them though. Would he come back next week. Would he want to? Would he be punished if he didn’t? Did he have anyone waiting for him at his ‘new’ home? Was his family alive? His real family? Why was that simulation a test? Now thinking back to it, he couldn’t have imagined it was fake. It felt so… real. He missed his wife, his family from the simulation, even it wasn’t real. He wondered if he would rather prefer to be dead right now, than have his meaningful life, be a lie.
