[LEON]

“Select world? does this mean I can choose any of these?”

Feeling a bit anxious and excited I began to scroll through the options. A second screen popped up to respond to my question.

YES AND NO.

I really don’t like the sound of that.

“What do you mean by that?”

While scrolling I saw an ‘X’ mark out beside a several of the options. Before I could ask about it, the screen displayed another message answering my unasked question.

THERE ARE SEVERAL WORLDS THAT ARE… CORRUPTED. THEY HAVE BEEN LABELED WITH AN ‘X’. YOU CAN STILL GO THERE IT’S JUST… NOT RECOMMENDED.

Corrupted? What the hell does that mean?

“Ok so what do these letters and number mean then?”

The list contained a large number of locations labeled ‘EARTH’ with a letter and a string of numbers.

THE LETTER MARKS THE TIMELINE AND THE NUMBER MARKS THE DIVERGENCE FROM THE ORIGINAL WORLD.

“So… I can travel through time?”

I wonder if there is anything I could do about the nukes back in my world.

HAHA NO.

“Then what do you mean by timeline and divergence?”

AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE ‘EARTH A-246’. THE LETTER ‘A’ WOULD BE THE BEGINNINGS OF HUMANITY. YOU CAN VIEW THE NUMBER 246 LIKE A VERSION NUMBER.

This list goes all the way to Z…

`“If A is the beginning, then what world timeline did I come from?”

YOUR WORLD WAS ‘EARTH C-999’. WHEN THE DIVERGENCE NUMBER REACHES 999 IT’S A DEAD END.

“Dead end… I’m guessing that means I can’t return then…”

YOU CAN RETURN BUT IT WILL ALWAYS END THE SAME WAY. ‘EARTH C-999’ IS FATED TO ALWAYS END IN A BALL OF FIRE. ALL DEAD ENDS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE LIST.

The sadness from before fell over me.

My life wasn’t great… but it was my life…

“So… I couldn’t go back and save my world then?”

NO… I’M SORRY…

The weight of those words pulled me back to the situation. I slapped my face a couple times and gathered myself.

“Ok… If I can’t go back then where should I go?”

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND GOING MUCH FURTHER THAN E OR F. ONCE YOU GET TO ‘EARTH J’ HUMANITY HAS PEAKED AND HAS HARNESSED THE POWER OF THE SUN.

‘EARTH M’ IS WHERE HUMANITY BEGINS TO LEAVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE PLANETS ARE STRIPPED BARE. ‘EARTH S’ AND BEYOND ARE ALL MARKED WITH AN ‘X’ BECAUSE THE SUN HAS GONE OUT AND NOTHING IS LEFT ALIVE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

The influx of information was staggering. I felt a migraine start to crawl behind my eyes and I fell to my knees.

I’M SORRY… I SHOULD HAVE EXPLAINED A LITTLE SLOWER.

I rubbed my eyes and fell on my back. The screens followed me like they were connected to me.

“It’s ok. That was a little overwhelming… So basically you’re telling me to stay with something close to my world?”

YOU CAN CHOOSE WHATEVER YOU WANT, BUT IF YOU GO TOO FAR AHEAD THEN DEATH AND LONELINESS WILL BE THE ONLY THING AWAITING YOU.

With a heavy sigh, I looked back toward the selection screen.

“Will I be able to talk to you when I am in one of these… Other worlds?”

I don’t particularly like the idea of just starting life again… but if I can talk to this… thing… then at least I will have some company.

YES AND NO.

Guess that’s the best I’m going to get…

“Do you have a name or anything I can call you? If not I’m just going to end up calling you screen or something.”

HMMM… YES, YOU CAN CALL ME RED.

Red… I wonder what this Red really is anyway…

“Okay Red. I think I am ready to choose.”

I flicked back up and randomly tapped the screen to stop the scrolling. My finger stoped on ‘EARTH F-675’. I shrugged and tapped it again to lock in the selection. A conformation screen popped up.

YOU HAVE SELECTED EARTH F-675. Y/N

I dug back into my pocket for the bottle of perfume. I felt a pit in my stomach and an ache in my heart as I stared at the red bottle.

All I can think of is Ashley’s hair when I look at this now.

With a shaky hand, I wiped the new forming tears from my eyes. I tapped the ‘Y’ button and was instantly overcame by an intense light. I raised my hand to cover my eyes. Before my eyes had adjusted, I heard the calming sound of waves hitting a shore.

Am I on a beach?

My vision was still a bit blurry, but I tried to get a bearing on my surroundings. It appeared to be an island. There were several small islands in the distance and the faint sound of sea gulls.

Well this is not what I was expecting, but I’m not one to say no to a free vacation.

[RED]

“Do you have a name or anything I can call you? If not I’m just going to end up calling you screen or something.”

Leon looked a bit flustered and was scratching the back of his head looking at the terminal.

Red looked down and thought for a moment. She twirled some of her long crimson hair around her finger and decided on a name. Turning back to her monitor she typed her response.

HMMM… YES, YOU CAN CALL ME RED.

Leon looked like he was pondering the name and then shook his head.

“Okay Red. I think I am ready to choose.”

Red watched the screen, attention wrapped on Leon’s decision.

‘EARTH F-675’… Which one was that again?

Red turned to one of her separate monitors and pulled up the guide she had made for the previously programmed worlds. Finding section F She scrolled down to find 675.

“Ohh I love this one! I have the perfect avatar for myself in this world! Now… where to send him. I could send him to Hawaii…”

Red looked back to the monitor with Leon. He appeared to be crying and tightly holding the red perfume bottle.

“Yeah I think he needs a vacation… Especially after what I did to him in the alpha program…”

Red pulled up her file labeled [Starting Locations] and chose the [Hawaii- Small Island] file. She eagerly waited for Leon to confirm his decision.

The second his finger touched the the terminal she dragged the file over to the main program. That done, She stood up and popped her back.

“Guess I’ll give him a little time to relax before I jump back in with him.”

*Ding*

The coffee maker made a noise to confirm that it was done brewing. Red walked over to get her morning caffeine.

I wonder what he thinks of me… He did go back for the perfume bottle this time… Guess that means he is starting to like me?

While she pondered Leon’s actions, Red made her way to the window overlooking the city. Massive building and blinding lights obscured the view of the city she had once known.

The year is 4287. Humanity had long since abandoned it’s interactions among it’s peers. People no longer had children and have since evolved to a point where they no longer have sexual organs. Immortality was standard, and a large percentage of the remaining humans are “jacked in” to a simulation named Select World.

The simulation directly connected to the brain and pulled the consciousness of the user into the simulation. Once someone was jacked, it was very difficult to remove them from the simulation without severe damage to their brain.

These ‘jacked’ humans were transferred to the Pods. The Pods are massive towers filled with vegetable like humans that are stimulated via IV. These Pods are ran entirely by themselves with AI machines in place of staff.

Red, the creator of Select World, is one of the few remaining humans that can jack in and come back with little effort. Even though there was nothing waiting for her in this reality, she didn’t like the idea of being laid on her back in a bed until the sun exploded.

The company that oversees the Select World simulation is ran by massive AI constructs, but all updates and worlds are created by Red’s hand.

Red looked back to the screens to see Leon taking his cloths off and running into the ocean. Upon seeing Leons naked body a flush began flaring across her face. She quickly turned back to look out the window.

Why does he make me feel this way? It’s not like he is real or anything… I have to find out what makes him different from everything else I’ve programmed so far.

Red had made an new learning AI program a month ago and dubbed it Leon. Ever since, it had her complete attention. She had even started to think of it more as a him than an it.

Leon was an anomaly in her world. She wanted to test him more before giving him access to the live simulation, but seeing him jump after her old ‘Ashley’ avatar made her feel something she had never felt before.

In a snap decision she paused the closed simulation and gave Leon root access to the full simulation running on her personal computer.

Red finished her coffee and walked over to the sink to rinse out the mug. She tried to avoid looking at the center monitor, where Leon was floating on his back in the ocean. Head cocked to the side, she made her way to the chair in front of her computer and sat heavily in it.

With a faint cough and a shake of her head, she pulled up her file named [Avatars]. She selected one that was similar to the Ashley avatar she had used in the closed simulation. This version was a bit rougher around the edges and held a scowl on her face.

She pulled up the status page for the avatar and tabbed over to the appearance page. There were several sliders and number values to determine things such as facial features, hair style, and body shape.

Red looked down at her slender frame.

I wonder if he is attracted to someone like me… should I make this avatar a little more… filled out?

As soon as the thought crept into her head, her entire face blazed to match her hair. She shook her head and slapped her face a few times before calming down.

“No! If I am going to interact with him I want to make myself look as close to the real me as I can.”

That out of her system, Red looked back up to the screen and pulled the slider for chest size back down from ‘D’ to ‘A’. With a sigh, she moved to the height stat. Changing it from five foot nine inches to five foot two inches. She left the green eyes and long red hair alone.

Closing the appearance tab, anxiety began building in her gut. She loaded the avatar into the ‘EARTH F-675’ program currently running on her main monitor.

“Hopefully he wont be too freaked out by me showing up like this…”

Everything seemingly ready to go, Red leaned back in her chair and grabbed the cable hanging from her computer. She held down a button on the side and shoved the pointy end into her temple. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her finger shook as she held it over the enter key.

“Here goes nothing…”

She slammed her finger into the button. Her body went limp and her vision went dark. A bright flashing text became visible as she waited.

JOINING SIMULATION. PLEASE WAIT.

With a blinding flash, the sudden smell of of the ocean greeted her. She stood there enjoying the ocean breeze while waiting for her vision to clear up.

The sound of sea gulls could be heard nearby. She looked around and saw them landing on the mech parked on the edge of the cliff she stood atop of. She walked over to the mech and opened the cockpit.

As soon as the machine started to move the gulls dispersed. She booted the system up and grabbing the drive controls.

“Here I come Leon…”

The hatch closed beside her with a whooshing noise. The sound of the engines and servos overtook the sound of waves crashing against the rock below. The mech shot forward, blowing apart the rocks it had been standing on.

The legs and arms folded in close to the main body of the craft, and the main thruster came to life. A large ring of exhaust formed behind the craft as Red pushed the throttle forward.