Prologue
Neural Integration initiated...
Aggregation of Pathways complete
Auditory feedback received
Olfactory feedback received
Tactile feedback received
Visual feedback received
Information has coalesced
Collection completed and Integration has been stabilized.
Beginner Sequence activated…
* * *
Welcome to the world of Azurios!
What am I doing here?
Let’s learn a little bit more about you, shall we?
Psyche profile testing will commence in… 5… 4… 3…
What an awful way to wake someone up.
Chapter 1
Initiation
The morning seemed pretty normal to start with. I woke up to the most horrifying sound you could ever imagine, also known as the default alarm on your smartphone of choice. I slide my thumb clumsily across the screen to unlock it and turn off my alarm and roll precariously out of bed. I rub the sleep out of my eyes as I walk into the bathroom of my apartment and strip out of my soft purple pajamas and clamber into the shower to get ready for work. Afterwards I grab my work clothes, a pair of skinny jeans, pale blue t-shirt, and a black wind breaker with the Imagitech logo for my job. I brush my dark brown shoulder length hair and stare into my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“You look pretty good for somebody that woke up five minutes ago.” I say to myself with a slight grin. My almond shaped silver eyes with a light blue tint are a nice contrast to my lightly tanned complexion. After confirming I’m dressed presentably I grab my Imagitech badge with my company transit card and head to the kitchen. I scarf down a quick breakfast sandwich I made and froze earlier that week and chug an energy drink. I scamper through the apartment to grab all my essentials, water bottle, backpack with laptop, keys, phone, and purse.
“Good to go.” I mumble to myself as I open my door and step out into the hallway of the complex and lock my front door behind me. I spot the neighborhood tabby cat laying casually on the handrail for the stairwell, its thick orange fur sitting in a perfect loaf with its long orange tail swinging carelessly back and forth. I give it a friendly scratch behind the ears and smile at it as I walk past and proceed down the stairs and out of the apartment complex. As I head to the train station, I try to keep my excitement under control while barely not skipping down the street.
Today is the day! I finally get to test our newest tech that we’ve been working on. The Thanatos Project is a neural coffin. Well at least that’s what we call it behind our CEO’s back. It’s a black tanning bed shaped device that has purple lights that create intricate designs along the length of the bed. When you open the top, you’ll see memory gel with electrical connections throughout it and screens on the lid that will be placed comfortably in front of you after closing. Due to high amounts of complaints of claustrophobia in alpha testing we made it so the device will have a two-foot gap between the edges so it doesn’t fully close around you. After you’ve fully synced, the device can be used for a whole host of reasons. Anywhere from medical sleep monitoring and dream mapping, to virtual gaming through the neural connection while sleeping.
“Morning Alaina.” Says Kyle the security guard for the area while waving my way.
“Good thing our public transit benefits are amazing or I would be more broke than I already am.” I whisper under my breath as I scan my transit pass on the metal kiosk in front of me while waving with one hand towards Kyle and walking through the newly unlocked turnstile. I find the Nine Line and wait for a few minutes for it to hover into the station on the magnet rails. I file into the car with the hundreds of other passengers and find myself a seat. I wrap my arms around my backpack and place it on my lap and lay my head across the top. I stare into the back of the seat in front of me and try to decide if I can maybe take a quick nap. It’s usually about thirty minutes of travel time to my stop at my office, but I’m so excited for the testing phase this afternoon that I’m unsure if I could fall asleep. Turns out, staying up late gaming will help with that decision as I close my eyes and steadily drift off to sleep.
* * *
I feel a slight buzzing in the back of my skull and a tranquil peace covers my mind and excitement like a weighted anxiety blanket. The air is warmer than I remember and there’s a clean slow breeze blowing through what I imagine is an open window next to me. I don’t remember opening the window before falling asleep, but I shake off the question and lean back in my seat with my eyes closed.
Welcome Alaina Glace to the Thanatos Project.
Neural Integration initiated...
Aggregation of Pathways complete
Auditory feedback received
Olfactory feedback received
Tactile feedback received
Visual feedback received
Information has coalesced
Collection completed and Integration has been stabilized.
Beginner Sequence activated…