Back To Reality

Mary Rose was sitting down on a seat of the London tram. Closing her eyes, she didn't know how much she could take off that damn automated recorder" the next stop will be Whitechapel," she had been travelling on the tram for the past 35 years.

The tram stopped, and a lady of around 60 got on and sat next to Mary. Well, at least this woman was chatty and could take her mind off this dull journey.

But if Mary knew that things were about to take a turn for the worst, she would have appreciated any moment she could get. Instead, as the chatty women spoke, she heard a faint bang in the distance. Then, turning to face the window, she saw a powerful wind knocking over trees and cars in the distance. Mary's last memory was a car flying fast towards her window; then everything went black.

The Other World

"Mary"

She could hear a faint whisper calling her name, getting louder and louder. Finally, Mary opened her eyes to an attractive man staring down at her.

"Welcome home," he said, smiling.

"What? Where am I?"

Mary stood up and looked around the room. It was beautiful. With a large rectangle window overlooking a forest.

"Have I died?"

The man laughed.

"Course not, Mary."

"My name is Harry. Your memories will come back soon."

Mary was getting hysterical now.

"Your life on Earth was fake. It was nothing more than virtual reality, a dumbed-down version of our world – the Other World. Look, think of it like you were in a coma. But you have come out of it now, and you are back home."

"But why?" said Mary.

"Well, we had to save your life. You wanted this too. You'll understand soon."

As the months passed, Mary learnt the rules of the Other World. The Other world was the most beautiful place you could lay your eyes on; everything was more colourful and detailed. For example, the other day, when it was snowing, you could see each snowflakes pattern.

And People didn't need to study, go to the Olsten centre. Olsten centres were like job centres where people get to choose what job they wanted to have. Want to be a surgeon? No problem, book an appointment for a special chip to be placed inside your mind, and the knowledge will be there. Brains are now run like computers; download the skills. But there was a catch you get one shot. You had to stick to that job for life.

In every workplace, you had a machine at each of the exits, like a cash machine. Everyone owed a blue card, and at the end of your working day, you scan your card on these machines. You get points added to your card, called leisure points.

Because the government believes that anything can become an addiction, whether it be game consoles, TV, social media - anything that gives someone pleasure, addiction causes laziness and unemployment. The idea is that some people would instead not work, so they have more time for pleasurable activities. But the government will not tolerate unemployment here. Oh no.

You will get 1 point added to your card at the end of each working day, and you can use these points to do anything you enjoy. For example, 1 point equals an hour of your hobby.

The government also don't allow overconsumption of food. Especially sugar and alcohol. Junk food is rationed. You are only allowed to buy two squares of chocolate a day, three beers a week, and up to 2000 calories worth of healthy food each day, monitored by swiping your card.

The idea behind this is that obesity cause diabetes and other health problems, which ultimately means they will be out of work in the future, and the government want their taxes.

But they also do not believe in freeloaders, people who get to stay at home because their husband or wife earns a lot of money, so they do not have to work themselves, so whatever job you have has to be equal to your partner's career in terms of how much you get paid. Otherwise, it is illegal to be together.

Before Earth

And this is where the story begins with Mary and Harry. Who met each other when they were 13. They were in the centre of London. And they knew they had to get jobs of equal pay. So, they looked up to see a board with a list of jobs that had become available.

After looking through the job list, they came up with a medium pay job for a financial advisor.

So, they applied for the role, they got their financial chips, with a card that contained their appointment details which would download the skills needed to become a financial advisor.

The day had come. They were getting chipped. Excited to start a life together, they headed off to the centre. Fiddling with the heart-shaped pendant Harry has bought her for valentine’s day, she knew she was the luckiest women ever. Mary got a call from her mother outside the centre, so she told Harry she would catch up to him.

After the call, Mary saw that Harry was being led away to get his chip inserted. She reached for the zip on her bag to get the chip out. But when Mary looked in her purse, the chip had gone. Mary began to panic. Tipping the contents of her bag out onto the pavement, searching everywhere, but it wasn't there. She began to have a panic attack; struggling for breath, she made it to the entrance to see if someone who worked at the centre could advise her what to do.

But as soon as she passed the entrance, an alarm sounded. Bright red in the face, Mary ran outside. She didn't stop running until she came to the canal. What was she to do now? And why had the alarms gone off? Reaching for her coat pocket to get a tissue to wipe her sweat, she pulled out a small clear bag containing some white powder.

"What is this?" she muttered to herself. Are these drugs? Mary froze in panic. She didn't know much about drugs, but she guessed this wasn't just flour.

I have got to ring Harry now. She called his mobile, and he answered.

"Mary, security is looking for you something to do with drug use?"

"I know. My chip is missing, and I have found some white powder in my coat pocket; someone must have planted the drugs and taken my chip. I am going to end up on the island."

The Island

The island was something that you couldn't escape from. Once a week, a helicopter would hover over the island and throw over a rope attached to a basket with leftover or out of date foods, including bread, fruits and water. Sometimes they would have fighting games where people would bet with their rations which person would win a fight,

If Mary was convicted of drug use, she would be sent to the island. Mary wept. Her fingerprints were on the powder bag, and she had stupidly thrown it away into the canal bushes. But, of course, police had found this bag, and all they need to do was match her fingerprints to the one on the bag.

But who would set her up? And Why?

"We need to find out who the culprit is," said Harry.

You will have to put yourself under VR. You have no choice.

Harry would have to live without Mary for years. And when she did come back out of VR, it will take months to remember her real life in the Other World.

Virtual Reality

VR had been around for years in the Other World and was mainly used for people who wanted to know where they have gone wrong in life, fix mistakes and repay debts, but she could use VR to go back and have Harry linger in the background of her life to see who the culprit was.

In VR, she would live nearly the exact life she has lived in the Other World. But this time, she has the freedom of choice. And it was up to Harry to guide her to the right choice.

Plus, you had to go back to when you were born. Mary was 32 years old now, so Harry could take 30- 32 years to find the culprit. After the culprit had been found, she would die in VR and be returned to him, but that's when the work begins as he would have to try to bring Mary's memories back.

But at least she would be safe, for the police can't touch someone in VR. They are asleep, in a coma. Things were different but the same. Main events never changed, but you had free choice, and with freedom comes responsibility. Who knows what Mary would turn out like.

The VR would take her to a simulated reality called Earth, where she would have to be born again. Mary would not know that she was in a VR experience. She would think that Earth was real. And have no memories of the Other World.

Meanwhile, Harry would sit in the Other World, a computer screen in front of him managing her life on Earth. He would have to observe her choices and actions and guide them through sending her subtle reminders. Like when Mary was 20 years old bought two bottles of wine to drink at a friend's house party. He thought that this was a little excessive to drink that much wine, so he split the plastic bag and smashed one bottle of wine on the floor. Good.

For years Harry sat at his computer watching Mary and intervening when necessary. Her real body was laid in the lab, surly he would see who it was soon. Looking at his screen, he watched and waited. And there it was.

Mary had been travelling on the tram to see her mother. But, of course, this person wasn't stealing the chip. The chip didn't exist on Earth, but a hand was in her bag. Mary turned to talk to a lady sitting next to her on the tram.

At first, he didn't recognise the women, but after a few seconds, his face turned pale. His heart was pounding. And that's when Harry destroyed Earth, and Mary woke up.

Mary remembered.

One Sunday morning, Mary was pottering around in the spare bedroom and came across a drawer.

Mary opened the drawer and found a red velvet box; she opened it to find a heart-shaped pendant. She remembered this pendent.

"Harry", she called.

"What is it?" he said in a panicked voice.

"I remember"

Harry's eyes widened "you do?"

"I remember everything."

"Did you find out who the culprit was?

Harry looked agitated. "I er..."

"Let's sit down."

"There's a woman that's obsessed with me. Her name is Cassandra. She seems to think that she and I are meant to be together.

"Where is Cassandra now?" Mary said, straitening up.

"On the island."

I downloaded the recordings of your experience of Cassandra going through your bag. The white powder bag that you threw away had one of her fingerprints on as well, but they also found a chip, a financial advisor chip, planted inside her brain. The ID number written on the chip matches your chip. So, she got some outsider who knows what he is doing to implant the chip inside her brain.

Mary studied his face. Going under VR lasted nearly 34 years to try to get her life back together again.

A couple of months later, Mary managed to get her chip back and inserted it into her brain where it belonged. Then, she fastened the heart-shaped pendant around her neck, looking forward to a future with Harry.