Serene Worlds

The mist started to slowly cover the forest. It wasn’t thick but still visible enough to be seen. The smell of some distant Spruce now permeated the air ever since the rain grew heavier.

This place provided him peace when he needed it the most. Sure, it was fake but so was everything in this godforsaken city. It was still better than taking a walk down the avenue outside. He didn’t feel like maneuvering through the crowd of protesters that had taken over the entrance of Star Plaza, the tower that hosted his penthouse.

He knew what he had to do tonight and it wasn’t going to be easy. After all, he was Ollie Spencer, the one who created the global phenomenon known as FlashPyro. At first it was a luxury but then people became dependent on it. Somehow he knew this would happen over time.

Suddenly a screen appeared in front of him. It displayed a notification from Henry, the Senior Vice President of Marketing. Next to his name, it simply read 'You’ve got this tonight.' Ollie felt comfortable speaking his mind with Henry, so they had formed a close relationship where he wasn’t afraid to be candid with him, especially during inflection points such as what was going to unravel later in the evening.

“Sleep mode” said Ollie in a calm voice. A moment later, the forest, along with all of its florae had disintegrated in thin air and was soon replaced by a lavish living room containing various pieces of expensive antiques and custom paintings. At the far end of the room hung a large mirror, which usually served as the final appearance check before he left his home.

He walked over to the mirror and gave it a long, hard stare. As the perimeter of the mirror turned green, a pleasant pinging sound was also produced to indicate that Ollie’s appearance was satisfactory for tonight’s presentation. It knew Ollie’s schedule and the current preset value was ‘Speech Social’.

Clean shaven, fresh haircut, form-fitting long sleeve dress shirt, blue jeans and a pseudo smart watch that had been synced with all of his personal data. While staring at the mirror and giving his outfit a final check, he whispered to himself “This is it.” There was no turning back.

It was now 7:45PM and the presentation would begin in 15 minutes. Even though the time was advertised for 8PM, he wouldn’t actually start speaking until all of the introductions were made, so realistically speaking, his speech would most likely begin sometime around a quarter after 8 or whenever he arrived at the convention center downtown. He owned FlashPyro, so he could do as he pleased and he felt it was always better to keep ‘em waiting.

He walked away from the mirror and was soon at the double door elevator that sat at the end of his living room. There was only a down button since he occupied the highest floor of Star Plaza all to himself. After a few moments of pressing the button, the doors opened and a man was standing inside the elevator waiting for him.

Instead of pushing the button for the ground floor, the man turned his key and pushed the button for the basement. Ollie stood inside the elevator looking at the ceiling the whole time. So many thoughts were running through his head. This was the night of all nights, at least that’s what Henry told him. He believed in taking FlashPyro to the next level.

Nearly half a minute later, they had arrived at the basement of Star Plaza. As planned, a caravan of black SUVs were waiting for his arrival. He walked over to the one in the middle where a built man in a dark suit was standing next to the right passenger door. The man quickly opened the door for him and Ollie found another man in a suit sitting in the seat adjacent to him.

When he was secured inside the car, the caravan left the basement through a ramp that connected to the avenue. There were several protesters that were standing on the opposite side of the ramp holding signs and shouting in disgust. One of the signs that stood out in the crowd read 'YOU DON’T OWN US!'. This wasn’t the first time Ollie saw this sign and even when he did, it didn’t really faze him. None of the protests or signs of opposition ever had such an effect.

Traffic was light tonight on this warm, summer night and the caravan had arrived at the convention center at 8PM as scheduled. The SUVs entered the convention center through a garage in the rear entrance and when they were situated in position, Ollie told his staff to wait. He knew tonight was going to be special, so he wanted to make a grand appearance.

Fifteen minutes had gone by while Ollie was checking his phone and reading the latest emails from Henry. Certain phrases in these emails had stood out. 'Engagement is key', 'They will believe in you', 'This is your time' were some of them. He put his phone in silent mode and gave the signal to his entourage indicating that he was ready. The door next to him had opened and Ollie stepped out into the vast garage of this building.

He immediately noticed Henry standing at the base of the steps that led into the back lobby of the convention center. When Ollie reached him, Henry said to him in a low voice “This is your time” as if he had rehearsed the phrase over and over again for this moment. Ollie genuinely believed that Henry was smart but he also believed that Henry more often than not chose to placate him instead of truly speaking his mind. That’s not to say that Henry wasn’t honest with him. It just seemed that he usually chose the route of buttering up Ollie since that was easier most of the time.

They walked up the stairs together and when they opened the doors of the rear entrance, a muffled, amplified voice could be heard in the distance. Ollie couldn’t quite make it out but he assumed it was his Chief Technology Officer, Aaron, explaining how far FlashPyro had come during the past few years. The voice grew louder as they navigated their way through a set of hallways that eventually led to the rear of the stage.

When Ollie reached the rear of the stage, a man in a dark suit had approached him. "Ok you're here. When he announces your name, the stage will go dark again and you'll stand right there in the middle."

Ollie acknowledged the man by giving him a subtle nod. About a minute later, Aaron began to wrap up his portion of the presentation.

"And without further ado...let's all give it up for the one who started it all...Ollie Spencer!" A thunderous roar accompanied with hands simultaneously clapping in the air overpowered the classical background music that was selected for Ollie's entrance. Images of FlashPyro's history were being projected onto the black backdrop that concealed Ollie who had walked over to his designated position. The roar had grown into a crescendo as each image changed to show the progression of the company throughout the years.

The last image that was projected was the company's logo and with its position fixed, the backdrop slowly rose to the ceiling and the audience could now see Ollie standing in the middle of the stage with a single spotlight focused on him. It was so loud now inside the convention center that Ollie could feel the vibrations of the audience's cheers bouncing on him. He stood still for a few moments as the cheers grew even louder, this was actually a rehearsed move that was designed to increase the awaited suspense.

"We are here!" Ollie said to the audience. "We are here and we are going to stay here!" Some people in the audience were now standing with wide smiles on their faces. "And you have all made this possible. You should congratulate yourselves." He now began to slowly pace around the stage. "Because without you, who knows where we would be right now."

The applause continued for several moments before Ollie began to speak again. "Thank you very much! Thank you!" And with that last thank you to the audience, their claps and cheers slowly started to diminish. When it lowered to a soft drone, Ollie then continued on with his speech.

"So....why are we here tonight? That seems to be the question everybody has been asking..." A brief pause as Ollie scanned the audience. "We are here to make history. We are all going to make it together."

He took another pause while still pacing around the stage. "For years we have tried to replicate worlds based on our imaginations. We first did it with books, then art, then cinema and ultimately with computer technology. But what if you could enter those worlds? What if you could feel the waves of the ocean rocking your body? What if you could smell the pines in the forest? Wouldn't that be nice?"

While there were some skeptics, Ollie could see that most of the faces in the audience were beaming with anticipation.

"What if I told you that you could do it right here, right now in your seats?" Ollie could now hear voices in the audience as people were having their own side conversations amongst each other.

"If you take out your devices, you should notice an additional icon located in the top left corner of your home screen." While Ollie was addressing the audience, the backdrop behind him now displayed the initials 'FP' in bold letters with the word 'serenity' underneath it.

"It is my greatest pleasure to introduce you to FlashPyro Serenity, the serene world of your choice. I ask all of you to please open this app on your device." The backdrop changed to a bright white screen with the FP logo on it and a message underneath it in green saying 'Prepare to enter your serene world.' A moment later, the green message changed to 'Please hold your device to eye level.' Most of the audience slowly began to raise their devices to their eyes. The backdrop behind Ollie then said 'Now creating your serene world' with a progress bar gradually being filled.

When the bar became completely filled, a tropical beach was then projected on the backdrop and gasps of excitement were heard throughout the audience. A name in the top left corner of the backdrop, 'Robert Jones', was projected on top of the image. After a few seconds, an image of a cabin in the woods was displayed along with the name 'James Westing'. It became apparent that the backdrop was displaying a slideshow of various virtual worlds from members of the audience.

Ollie could see smiles amongst the crowd as their eyes were fixed onto their devices. "Each one of you should have their own version of serenity. It could be a yacht sailing out to sea or a drive through the open country. You are the one that creates this world of yours."

Cheers were heard once again throughout the audience. "You may be asking how this all works? Well, using algorithms based on your interests and emotions, Serenity determines what world will best bring you peace and tranquility by analyzing..." And then it all happened so quickly.

Suddenly a cry was heard from somewhere in the audience. Someone now began to shout as well. "Oh my God!" screamed a distant voice.

The smile on Ollie's face was quickly replaced by a look of bewilderment. He could see Henry pointing to the backdrop behind him. As Ollie turned around, he stared in horror now realizing what was happening to everyone in the audience who was using Serenity.

The slideshow continued to play on the backdrop but the various serene worlds had now become scenes of despair and terror. The once calm yacht sailing out to sea was now wrestling with huge waves in the ocean as a storm raged around it. And the drive through the open country had transformed into a race against a tornado that seemed to get closer and closer to the driver.

"I can't get out!" shrieked a helpless user. "Help me!" was heard from a frightened voice. At this point, Ollie started to lose his composure and he shouted to the crowd "Just say sleep mode to get out!" He could now hear people in the audience yelling "Sleep mode!" but it didn't work. He looked around the audience and he could still see the scared faces of people trapped in their nightmare worlds.

The backdrop displayed the world of Mary Dalton who appeared to be in a jungle running away from a panther. Then the backdrop switched to Cindy Thaler's world, which projected a fire burning throughout the inside of a large high-rise residence. And it continued to display these ghastly worlds without end.

"It burns!" shouted a voice, perhaps it was Cindy Thaler who said this but nobody could be sure. Ollie didn't know what to do. He ran down the stage to Henry and asked him in a panic "How is this happening?"

Henry didn't have an answer but he instinctively motioned for one of the techies to join him. "Can you kill it?" he asked the techie. The techie looked around the convention center to see if anybody had somehow broken free. To his dismay, it seemed that everyone was still trapped. "We're trying!" He looked over to his tech team who were frantically typing on consoles near the stage in an effort to kill the serenity worlds for the audience. Gasps of horror continued to be heard throughout the convention center as the techies desperately tried different ways to stop all instances of the app but they seemed to be of no use.

Then the convention center was covered in darkness. The emergency lights now emitted from various spots of the hall. The shouts and cries had finally stopped and the audience seemed to be free from their own personal virtual hells. When the audience realized they were back in reality and safe once again, a mixture of fear and anger soon filled the atmosphere. Some audience members fled the hall by running towards the nearest exits while others remained to express their disgust.

I'm ruined. They'll never forgive me for this one. He had only himself to blame since he knew there were complications from this new technology that had not been fully resolved. But this was beyond what he had anticipated. Sure he wanted to get Serenity out before one of his competitors somehow found a way to reverse engineer this technology but tonight had been a total disaster.

Shouts were again heard from the audience but these were now shouts of anger and protest. "We need to get you out of here." whispered Henry. Ollie continued to stare at various members of the audience in silent puzzlement. An arm was now wrapped around him and guiding him towards the exit behind the stage.

Ollie and his party navigated the various corridors behind the stage and soon reached the garage where an SUV was waiting for him. The party got inside the SUV and Ollie instructed the driver to take him back to his penthouse, the only place where he felt safe right now. Soon enough, Ollie got an alert on his device saying "Trending: FlashPyro premiere results in epic disaster creating pandemonium."

"Tell me what went wrong tonight Henry and don't smooth talk me." Ollie said in a sullen voice. "I'm...not really sure. Let me see if I can reach Aaron." Henry was now typing away on his device, hoping to get a quick reply. When the SUV emerged from the garage, Ollie could see one of the giant city screens display footage captured from his speech earlier tonight. It showed him standing on stage helplessly looking in the audience as they were trapped in their worlds. At the bottom of the screen were the words 'Unveiling of FlashPyro Serenity traps users in dangerous virtual worlds.' The last scene of the captured footage showed Ollie running off the stage.

As Ollie dropped his head into his hands and covered his face in utter disappointment, Henry then received a message from his device. "So Aaron thinks what happened was someone got scared while using the app and they panicked. He thinks it had to be some kind of ripple effect where more people got scared when they started hearing the shouts in the crowd. He also thinks Serenity has a glitch where if a user's fears are stronger than their calms, then that's what their world is going to project."

"How did we not deal with this during development?" Ollie asked in frustration.

"I don't think we had anybody use Serenity while they were afraid. We probably used too many controlled environments." Henry said hoping this would provide some closure. Ollie wanted to lash out but he knew it wasn't Henry's fault. He really wanted to blame the developers but they weren't wrong either. In fact, nobody could've really predicted this kind of outcome.

Soon the emails started to flood Ollie's inbox and he knew this was only the beginning of the public outcry for this failed technology. In addition to the press conferences, he would also have to explain to his investors why tonight had been a critical defeat. For now, he just wanted to go back home and escape from it all.

The SUV reached the basement of Star Plaza several minutes later and as Ollie opened the passenger door to leave the vehicle, Henry grabbed his arm. "We'll find a way to explain this to everyone. Just leave it to me." Ollie nodded his head in feigned agreement and as Henry released his grip, he watched Ollie disappear into the basement entrance of the building. When Ollie reached the elevator of the hallway, he noticed a doorman had already pushed the button for it. As the elevator doors opened, they both stepped inside and silently ascended the numerous floors to Ollie's penthouse.

Ollie got out of the elevator and found himself staring at the same large mirror that analyzed his appearance. There was nothing scheduled for him later tonight, so the mirror simply just reflected his appearance. He gave the mirror a cold, hard stare before he picked up the small geode that rested on the table in front of it. Without hesitation, he hurled the rock at the mirror and shouted in a rage he had never felt before in his life. As the shards came apart, he could see the various electronics below the glass surface that were used for all the personal appearance functionality.

He then walked over to his living room and while sitting on his couch, took out his device and quickly pressed the FlashPyro Serenity icon. After he used the device to scan his eyes, he found himself on a cold and gray shore staring out into the ocean. He knew this was only temporary and was also acutely aware of this world being a prescient reminder of what was actually real and what was fantasy. From the beginning he knew Serenity was an escape yet somehow it had the ability to confine as well.

A snowflake had fallen onto him as the clouds above the ocean had thickened. Then the air became filled with snow where he could no longer see the horizon in the distance. After standing on the muted yellow sand for several minutes, he could no longer see the grains from it as a pure white sheet of snow had naturally, or in this case, unnaturally covered it up.

"Things didn't quite turn out as planned tonight, did they?" said a voice somewhere out in the distance. How did a person get inside this world? Ollie quickly turned around to face the land behind him. As he noticed earlier, nobody was there. "You knew there were risks with this technology."

Ollie now became angry once again. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

"I've always been here..." said the voice, which was now much closer. "You just never noticed me." And when Ollie turned around to face the ocean, he saw a figure standing on the snow covered sand. He thought it was a reflection of himself.

"Did someone hack into my device?" he asked while staring up into the sky.

"This is not a hack..." said the copy of himself. "I am you and have always been you, just a certain part of you."

How is this possible? Ollie thought to himself in silent horror.

"You're wondering how this is possible, well think about it. These worlds are formed from your emotions, your fears, your desires and your thoughts. I am merely a manifestation of what you have subconsciously been thinking all along. You're not worried about hiding me or the thoughts I'm expressing any longer. You're now letting go and that's ok."

Ollie could not believe what he was seeing and hearing in front of him. "What are you talking about?" he asked shocked. "What thoughts?"

"Oh come on Ollie, you know. You've always had doubts about this technology being safe. You chose to only see the good from it. Well tonight you got to see the danger and now they'll never trust you again."

"I don't need you to tell me that!" And as Ollie tried to run back towards land, he noticed that the snow covered shore had transformed into a desert and he could feel the heat coming off of the dunes from the fat sun hanging in the blue sky.

"Who else are you going to listen to?" His clone was now sitting on a camel several feet away from him. "I tried to warn you awhile ago but I wasn't successful."

"No! This technology does work! People just have to know how to use it!"

His clone dismounted from the camel in a swift motion. "Is that so? Ok then...make me go away."

"Sleep mode!" shouted Ollie but as with the people in the convention center, he found that he couldn't escape. "Sleep mode!" he shouted once again but his clone and the endless desert still surrounded him.

The clone continued to stare at him. "You can shout all you want but I'll always be here."

How do I get out of here?

"Why are you so afraid of me? This is what you wanted...a place to get away from it all. You have it now."

"This isn't what I want! Please get me out of here!"

"And then what? How are you going to explain tonight's debacle to the public? You're finished."

"They'll understand...we just have to work out all the bugs."

"Is that what you think I am? A bug? An undesired outcome?" Suddenly the desert had transformed into the familiar rainy forest. "Is this what you want? Is this where you go to hide?"

"I wanted to give people peace and some solitude."

"And you did that but for a price. Don't apologize to me since you only have yourself to blame."

Ollie started to run from his clone. He found himself getting deeper into the forest and as he did so, the sky became more concealed by the giant trees. The rain also grew heavier and the path in front of him flashed a dirty blue light to reveal a trail that led up a hill. A crack of thunder followed several seconds later. The hill was muddy and difficult to ascend. When he reached the top while catching his breath, he saw a figure dressed in a black raincoat holding a large umbrella.

"Give it up Ollie! I'll always be here!" shouted his clone who remained still. The sky turned black and the rain had become a downpour. "We are one!"

Ollie held his head down and closed his eyes to shield his face from the rain. "We are one!" yelled his clone who was now slowly approaching him.

Oh God, make this stop!

"We are one!"

Ollie reluctantly lifted his head up in dread awaiting to face his clone but instead of seeing himself dressed in black, he was back in his living room staring at the paintings on the wall. Then a figure had waved their hand in front of him to get his attention.

"Ollie! Are you ok?"

And he recognized the voice right away. Ollie had instantly hugged Henry and burst into tears. "This was all my fault!" he said while staring at his smashed device lying on the tiled floor. "I'll apologize to them all...I'll make up for it!"

Henry patted him on the back. "It's not your fault. You tried to make a better world for everyone."

"How did you get in here?"

"I thought you needed someone to talk to tonight. They all know who I am in this building, so they let me up and I found you trapped." Henry said while holding him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No...at least not now." Ollie said while sniffing his nose. "I'm going to tell the world tomorrow that this was all a mistake."

"Let me get you a drink of water and we can talk about it." said Henry while slowly getting up and walking out of the room.

'We are one...and I am none...' Ollie had thought in silent disbelief.