Kira Sotos, 12th, Madison West High School, WI, (Fiction

Kira Sotos, 12th, Madison West High School, WI, (Fiction)

"The Promise"

That afternoon, the sky stayed a calming, pewter gray and the rain fell particularly heavy. Water seeped into the blood-soaked ground, cradling the young soldier in a bed of warm, earthy slush. As he stared deep into the turbulent clouds, his anguished lust for peace of mind allowed the weight of his eyelids to blanket him under cover of darkness. His descent into comatose recast the harsh rain into kisses of sunshine, whistles of artillery into songbirds, and the confines of his uniform into his mother’s tender arms. One final wheeze of sweaty air and Magna Mater welcomed him deep into the solace of her muddy bosom.

Far from the trials of reality, he was seven once again, lying in the sleepy fields of his homeland. Carelessly he gazed into the horizon, naming shapes as the gentle wind sculpted clouds into pretty pictures. His mother held him tight to her chest, lifting his chin toward the shining sun, and kissed his forehead softly.

“My boy… whenever you find yourself struggling, I want you to come back to this place. Remember the beauty of this moment, and cherish it.”

He closed his eyes and smiled as the climate of peace lulled him deep into a placid slumber.

Will erupted violently to the burning sensation of oxygen filling his lungs, as mud and phlegm exited his system. His vision gradually steadied and as his body returned to its senses, he could not believe his eyes. Ubiquitously, the land was green and fertile, a grandiose sky of blue stretching infinitely into the distance. His skin was clean, and his uniform was replaced by equally fresh linens. Not far ahead, a woman in a delicate white dress beckoned him toward her with a warm smile. Combing his fingers meekly through his hair, he approached her with apprehension.

“Um hello. I… is this heaven?”

The girl giggled playfully, ignoring the question.

“Are you enjoying your time here?” She solicited, almost mechanically.

“Uh…yeah, I suppose.”

The world around him dimmed and every facet of life froze in place. Out of thin air, a script of words appeared before him, and a monotonous voice began to narrate.

You must provide 5 credits to continue. Free trial ends in 5…4…3…2…1…

At the end of the countdown, the scene of beauty faded out of existence and left Will to his own silence. The once neverending landscape was now a dim-lit room with refracted walls and a glowing red exit sign. He felt the dank gravity of his dirt-caked uniform weigh him down once more. He wondered if he had instead been sent to purgatory. Was this punishment for his participation in mass murder?

“Do I have any credits!?” Will implored.

“To check credit balance, please display your UNIVERSAL PASS.”

Dejected, he exited politely. “Oh okay… I don’t have one of those but thanks anyway.” The view outside was equivalently as strange as the inside of the foreign room. Smooth, metallic structures resembled skyscrapers out of New York City and lit the underground cavern with beams of light through their compact windows. Onyx-colored streets twisted parallel to said buildings, and cars of eccentric shapes and colors decorated them. The door he had exited was an entrance to a dome-shaped building, labeled with the word HOLOSCAPE. Several feet away, a short, broad establishment displaying windows filled with brightly colored packages lured him in.

Along the first wall, to the left of the entry, Will observed several rows of long rubber cords, short metal stubs adorning either end. Palm-sized, reflective squares, some containing panels of numbers and letters, hung from the neighboring row. Just underneath, magazines, with paintings so good Will mistook them for photographs, sat neatly against a few shelves. Overwhelmed, he turned his attention to an aisle of thin, aluminum-coated bars labeled MELTED GOLD. Scrooge-like, he hurriedly grasped a bar in his hands and tore the wrapper away. The contents were brown. A sweet aroma rose promptly and the familiar sweetness nearly sent him into euphoric shock. Hungrily, he broke the bar off into little squares and stuffed them into his mouth. It was chocolate– a treat he had not enjoyed for far too long. He grabbed a few more bars, tucking them into his coat, and retreated back to the peace of the holoscape.

Upon passing one of the unconventionally engineered cars, Will spotted a card beneath its bumper and skimmed over the details:

UNIVERSAL PASS

Aeneas Vouvali

Race: Earth-human

“Maybe he’ll have some credits.”

Once inside, Will reached out the card and thrust it around in the open for the voice to see. “Are there any credits on this?”

The voice hummed happily and displayed the script in the air once more, this time exhibiting the details of the universal pass.

“Vouvali, Aeneas. Credit balance: 350. Would you like to purchase an experience in the holoscape?”

“Yes. Uh… the one with lots of open-air and a big green field. There was also a lady in a white dress, I believe.”

In the blink of an eye, the pastures returned and Will was once again clad in clean, dry clothes. “Did you mean SIMULATION ONE: PEACEFUL COUNTRYSIDE?”

“Yes! This is exactly what I was looking for.”

“Simulation purchased. Your new balance is 345 credits. Your remaining time in PEACEFUL COUNTRYSIDE is 5 hours.”

Will took in the beauty of the rural terrain, raising his arms to allow the cool breeze through his fingertips, and strode toward the shade of an apple tree. Happy for the first time in years, he rested his head against the trunk and closed his eyes.

“Finally found you.” A booming voice uttered, causing Will to stumble backward in fear. A large man stared Will down sternly, his presence god-like.

“Oh… wait. Are you like the woman in the white dress? I don’t need company right now, I just want to rest.”

“I am not simulated. Now take my hand so we can return to the surface.”

Abruptly, Will rose, a look of agitation and reluctance on his face.

“Return? You mean back to the war? No thanks, I’m happy here.”

“That will not be possible. This place will be destroyed once I bring you back.”

Unphased, Will raised his arms and closed his eyes, allowing the wind to flow through his fingertips once more.

“So be it! Destroy me with this place. I’d rather die happy than live a life of pain and suffering!” The man frowned, puzzled by Will’s suicidal passivity.

“You would rather die in a simulation than return to the real world? Do you not wish to lie in real grass? Feel the sun tan your skin? Touch the flesh of a genuine woman?”

Will lowered his hands, adopting a solemn expression, and turned toward the synthetic sun. “I…will not get to experience any of those things if you take me back.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m a soldier fighting in one of the worst wars of history! I’ll be dead, that’s why!” The man contemplated a moment before speaking.

“Well, what if I made sure you would not have to return to the battlefield. You could go back home. Pursue a career, marry, start a family. Take my hand, and I will gift you the life of peace you so desire!”

“What’s the point?”

“Huh? How can you say that!? I’ve offered you a life like this, a world without tragedy-” “How can you promise me a life without tragedy? It’s part of the human condition to inflict pain. We do not live life! We feed off of it, like parasites, and use it to destroy. You know why I would rather stay here? There are no humans that can pollute the beauty of this simulation. Not even me! I cannot taint what can’t be touched. In the trenches, I killed people and they killed my people. I ruined the lives of their families and they ruined the lives of my friends' families. Here I can do no harm!” The man sunk to the ground, sighing into his hands.

“Ha…you are just like a friend I once had... Do you know what you have stumbled upon? Why this place must be destroyed?”

Will shook his head, lowering himself in agony.

“This place is a product of the past. Believe it or not, mankind was once far more advanced. You even established colonies in outer space. And it was all due to us, the watchers of the universe. This great war you speak of? It has happened before, we witnessed it. We watched you struggle, make mistakes, and continue to destroy yourselves. Eventually, we grew fond of you. We intervened, helped you advance, and became your friends. But as your superiors, we failed to raise you successfully. The speed at which we gave you the power to evolve yourselves left an insatiable hunger in the belly of mankind. You wanted more, and so you began to betray us. You even killed some of us. Your drive for power caused you to destroy yourselves once again.

We thought you were a lost cause, only a handful of us, including myself, still had hope that you were capable of good. But even with my optimism, I had doubts. I continued to return to your planet, desperate for an argument I could use amongst my brethren to keep you alive. It was then I met my friend. His name was Atticus, and he was a cynic, just like you. He believed the universe was better off without mankind. A few times, he begged me to convince the others to destroy humanity once and for all. I disagreed with him every time, arguing it was unfair to judge the entirety of man under the guise of a few wicked rogues. He never listened. The next time I tried to visit him, he had put himself out of his own misery. In remembrance of my friend, I returned to my comrades, begging them not to eliminate the human race. I suggested instead of total annihilation, we give you a second chance, this time without befriending you. They agreed and strived to wipe away all traces of civilization and advancement. What can I say? I wanted to see your kind thrive so that I could prove my friend wrong, and now, I have yet another Atticus on my hands that needs convincing. You have seen the paragon of this place, are you still convinced that man is capable only of destruction?”

“I get what you’re saying, I really do, but what makes you so sure we won't just end up destroying ourselves again?”

“I am not, but I believe that is the sole purpose of second chances and hope. Just like one man is capable of destroying the world, another is capable of its salvation. This universe runs on the flip of a coin.”

“And if it flips to the wrong side?”

“Don’t let it. Outsmart the probability. Is it not you that can prove the goodness of humankind? You are, after all, at least partially responsible for the fate of your race. Learn from what you have seen and heard today. Fix the mistakes of the men that built this place. Rewrite history, so that this future can no longer be a possibility.”

The man, once again, reached out his divine hand and this time, Will gripped it with faith.

When Will awoke, he found himself lying in the cot of an ARC hospital, his left arm exchanged for a swath of bloody bandages. He was discharged, a brave warrior, and sent back home to his family. It was a sunny afternoon the day he returned to his childhood home. The fields thrived, a healthy green, and a warm breeze swept through the horizon. His mother stood in the pastures, smiling as tears streamed down her cheeks, and held her son close to her chest. Her skin was warm and alive.

The watcher had kept his promise, now it was time for Will to keep his.