Seg 2.1

No. Not here, outside of my dreams. 


I look up at the name, glued to the bed. Unable to move, even if I wanted to. I'm too shocked to even think of moving. 


What is his name doing here? And why is the tile attached to it? I stare at the name, trying to understand. I finally get up, and get it off of my ceiling. The piece of tile was held up by some wire wrapped around it and tacked to the ceiling, and the name was just the same stuff bent to spell out the name. 


I'm not going to be able to get to bed. Not after something like that. I decide to go use the dreamscape. Its one of the few places I feel totally calm.


The dreamscape is like this whole other world, universes really that are dependent upon you for creation. It allows for you to be placed into these scenarios, these video games, and you get to play it out. I don't know the whole science behind it, but when it first came out, you got strapped into a seat basically, and the computer takes a scan of your brain. A second persona is then created within the video game that is you, identically, down to the all your memories, and then while you're asleep or plugged in, your computer persona runs through the game.


So its not like its really you playing the game, but more like your electronic doppleganger is for you. At the end of the game, or the simulation of sorts, the memories created during that game are "downloaded" into your brain. The electronic copy of you floating about in cyber space becomes dormant, stored into a personal storage device, that the player keeps so that you don't need a rescan every time you play.


Originally, it needed you to be strapped into these large chairs to allow the sounds to hit the body correctly to hypnotize you in a way, or just the vibrations, or something along those lines, but now its to where it all can be on a small device clipped over your ear, not much larger than earphone. Some people wear them everywhere they go, using them as earphones until they have a quick moment to relax, slip under, and enter the dreamscape.


Working for CrossTechD, I have one of the newest models on the market, a small earpiece about the size of my thumb that runs in a narrow strip up over my ear. It communicates with the nearest computer terminal to boost my signal, finding other players from all across the world. A game or two might be exactly what I need to relax me.


There's a humming sound as the device in my ear starts up (Its the CR 1512, genetically imprinted to work for me alone) and some shifting lights appear in front of me. They've got the system down to where it partially hypnotizes you at the beginning using just slight sounds to direct what you see and such. The lights clear to reveal a green screen in front of me, just slightly larger than a computer screen. Shows me recent connections used, games I tend to play more often, and a portion is devoted to the news. I'm just glancing around the screen, trying to figure out if I want to play along with some pals from across the world or start playing a game by myself when I notice something odd. 


There, under recent connections is the name Peter again;


/subroutineactive 114.aa45 changeusr indentity: Peter.CSD0001 *******


It's there for only a moment, as soon as I notice it, it flickers out and disappears off screen. I frantically try going to my connections page, to see if its there, but theres no record of any connection under the name Peter. I head back to the main page. 


I must of just been imaging things. I should probably go see a doctor about it. I mean a lot of stress, and now imaging that his name is all over the place? This Peter who I haven't even met but dream that I am all the time? 


Whatever. I need to relax, and thats why I started playing in the 'scapes originally. I go to my friends and find a dreamer (Its what all of us users are called. They used to call it gamers, but less and less console games can actually compete beyond arcade use with the dreamscape tech so now they call us dreamers) from Eurasia named King. At least, that's the dreamertag for him (her. Unsure on that bit actually) He's playing the most recent shooter, some far future alien space invasion game, where we still use projectile weaponry. Which boggles me... Wouldn't we eventually get to laser weapons if we've developed space travel far enough to hit aliens? But then again, I'm not developing the games. 


I decide to join him. The screen flashes twice, and then my vision goes out. Everything's black, and I can't see, but I feel the armor I wear in the game begin to solidify around me. A glimmer of shining white light appears, a pulsating dot. It shifts around a bit, and colors start to shimmer into it as well. Suddenly, the light grows faster, looking as though I'm speeding towards the end of a tunnel, my surroundings being light up, just a gray empty holding chamber without a wall, and the lights almost to me, I can see a field, some human looking characters in a firefight with something gigantic and obviously hostile, the lights passing me by, and the gray walls are gone and I'm standing in the middle of the grassy field, the fight just up ahead. Smoke and the smell of charred flesh and gunpowder reaches me, burned streaks in the grass looking like deathly scars burned into the golden waist high landscape.


Sun glints across my visor as I look towards the fight, pull my gun close to my body, and charge yelling at the top of my lungs into the chaos.