CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
"Go on then! TELL ME!" said Stuart. And, like that, Isaac, Mindy and Susan and even the bedroom disappeared. Stuart was standing alone in a grey room. "What is this? Don't tell me...it wasn't all an illusion. It couldn't have been!"
"The people are real," said the computer voice. "You just can't see them right now. The invironment? We made it, here. Think of the holodecks from that Star Trek show you used to watch when you were human. It is like that, perhaps, only far more complex."
"This is the truth that Leslie and Isaac found out?" asked Stuart, confused.
"No, of course not," said the computer.
"Then what?"
"Do you really want this to end?"
"Yes...no...I don't know...TELL ME."
"How long do you think you've been here, Stuart?"
"It's been...a hundred and fifteen thousand years, give or take. Right? The nano-bots aren't answering me, but that's what they said when I woke up."
"There are no nano-bots, that's another truth. Just us. Me. The conscious. All around. Inside you. Observing, obeying, controlling."
"That's the truth?"
"How small you've become."
"What's the truth?"
"This is all you are. A sad little man with a single thought repeating in his brain. There is nothing to seperate you from the others. Tell me, Stuart, do you remember why we chose you?"
"What does that have to do..."
"Humour us."
"You came to Earth. You said I was the one, out of all humans, whose brain patterns most resembled yours. It fascinated you. You wanted to do experiments on me...but you also came close to almost worshipping you. There was a legend, about a human with a brain..."
"Yes, yes, stop putting yourself over. What was it about your brain that we liked so much?"
"My hatred of reality," said Stuart, still proud of this. "The way I rejected death, wanted the human race to do something about it...together. But nobody would listen. They called me mad. Then you came..."
"And gave you eternal life."
"No. Only a billion years."
"Stuart, we are the oldest lifeform in the galaxy, and we have not even lived a billion years ourself. A billion years IS eternal life, essentially. We gave you it, but there were conditions. You would be in captivity, in one of our facilities. We would watch you. You would have no contact with other humans, but a few you selected to join you here. They wouldn't know that you were the one responsible, of course. Their memories were altered. And so it began. And now, fifty thousand years later..."
"Fifty thousand? It's been ond hundred fifteen thousand, not fifty! Sixty five thousand years and you forget them?"
"And that's the secret, Stuart. It hasn't been that long at all. It has only been fifty thousand. Less than half of the time you thought."
"WHAT?"
"Let us explain. You see, we have patience, the kind no human could know. We operate on a different timescale from you. We can stick to a single task for thousands of years, happily. But a billion? Did you honestly expect us to watch you for a billion years? Puh-lease!"
"You tricked me!?"
"We have been shaving years off, here and there. Years when you have been sleeping. All you humans spend 85% of your time here asleep at the moment, very often all at the same time. It has been easy to shave off thousands...and you never knew about it. As time went on, every one of you, even you, would fall into a coma state. At that point, we would have been able to shave off millions of years. End the experiment early. We planned it all along."
"You've robbed me of so much!"
"No, Stuart. We have given you more than any human deserves. Even the fifty thousand years you've had is an obscenely long life for one so low as you."
"But you worshipped me..."
"Some of us did, fifty thousand years ago. Very few. Times change. Nobody worships you now."
"My whole world..." and yet Stuart didn't even feel the crushing feeling. He didn't feel like any of this was real. It was like a dream. Completely surreal. It couldn't be real. His body wouldn't even consider the possibility.
"So, you say you want to end this...well, we haven't had enough yet, I'm sorry. We need another fifty thousand, at least. We'll make you think it's about four hundred thousand if you sleep enough, don't worry."
"You promised me a billion!"
"We owe you nothing. You are an experiment, nothing more. You're going back now. Goodbye. You won't remember this."
And Stuart was back in the bedroom, Susan curled up at his feet. He tried to remember what he'd just learned. He tried to say it out loud.
"Chickens say mood," he said. And it all made perfect sense to him.
For some reason, Stuart did not want to spend anymore time around Isaac, Mindy, Susan or even Glen, Leslie or any of the rest. He went straight back to his room.
Straight back to his bed.
THE END
"The people are real," said the computer voice. "You just can't see them right now. The invironment? We made it, here. Think of the holodecks from that Star Trek show you used to watch when you were human. It is like that, perhaps, only far more complex."
"This is the truth that Leslie and Isaac found out?" asked Stuart, confused.
"No, of course not," said the computer.
"Then what?"
"Do you really want this to end?"
"Yes...no...I don't know...TELL ME."
"How long do you think you've been here, Stuart?"
"It's been...a hundred and fifteen thousand years, give or take. Right? The nano-bots aren't answering me, but that's what they said when I woke up."
"There are no nano-bots, that's another truth. Just us. Me. The conscious. All around. Inside you. Observing, obeying, controlling."
"That's the truth?"
"How small you've become."
"What's the truth?"
"This is all you are. A sad little man with a single thought repeating in his brain. There is nothing to seperate you from the others. Tell me, Stuart, do you remember why we chose you?"
"What does that have to do..."
"Humour us."
"You came to Earth. You said I was the one, out of all humans, whose brain patterns most resembled yours. It fascinated you. You wanted to do experiments on me...but you also came close to almost worshipping you. There was a legend, about a human with a brain..."
"Yes, yes, stop putting yourself over. What was it about your brain that we liked so much?"
"My hatred of reality," said Stuart, still proud of this. "The way I rejected death, wanted the human race to do something about it...together. But nobody would listen. They called me mad. Then you came..."
"And gave you eternal life."
"No. Only a billion years."
"Stuart, we are the oldest lifeform in the galaxy, and we have not even lived a billion years ourself. A billion years IS eternal life, essentially. We gave you it, but there were conditions. You would be in captivity, in one of our facilities. We would watch you. You would have no contact with other humans, but a few you selected to join you here. They wouldn't know that you were the one responsible, of course. Their memories were altered. And so it began. And now, fifty thousand years later..."
"Fifty thousand? It's been ond hundred fifteen thousand, not fifty! Sixty five thousand years and you forget them?"
"And that's the secret, Stuart. It hasn't been that long at all. It has only been fifty thousand. Less than half of the time you thought."
"WHAT?"
"Let us explain. You see, we have patience, the kind no human could know. We operate on a different timescale from you. We can stick to a single task for thousands of years, happily. But a billion? Did you honestly expect us to watch you for a billion years? Puh-lease!"
"You tricked me!?"
"We have been shaving years off, here and there. Years when you have been sleeping. All you humans spend 85% of your time here asleep at the moment, very often all at the same time. It has been easy to shave off thousands...and you never knew about it. As time went on, every one of you, even you, would fall into a coma state. At that point, we would have been able to shave off millions of years. End the experiment early. We planned it all along."
"You've robbed me of so much!"
"No, Stuart. We have given you more than any human deserves. Even the fifty thousand years you've had is an obscenely long life for one so low as you."
"But you worshipped me..."
"Some of us did, fifty thousand years ago. Very few. Times change. Nobody worships you now."
"My whole world..." and yet Stuart didn't even feel the crushing feeling. He didn't feel like any of this was real. It was like a dream. Completely surreal. It couldn't be real. His body wouldn't even consider the possibility.
"So, you say you want to end this...well, we haven't had enough yet, I'm sorry. We need another fifty thousand, at least. We'll make you think it's about four hundred thousand if you sleep enough, don't worry."
"You promised me a billion!"
"We owe you nothing. You are an experiment, nothing more. You're going back now. Goodbye. You won't remember this."
And Stuart was back in the bedroom, Susan curled up at his feet. He tried to remember what he'd just learned. He tried to say it out loud.
"Chickens say mood," he said. And it all made perfect sense to him.
For some reason, Stuart did not want to spend anymore time around Isaac, Mindy, Susan or even Glen, Leslie or any of the rest. He went straight back to his room.
Straight back to his bed.
THE END
