Ignorance is bliss

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I blink my eyes a few times, still fuzzy with sleep. I stretch out my arms just to immediately feel them thud against something. I look around and I'm inside some sort of pod.

What in the fresh hell is going on?

I look back at the flashing screen in front of me. Reset my password for what? I comb through my memories frantically trying to find something, anything, to decipher what's going on. Nothing. The last thing I remember was hosting a dinner party for my friends last night, we had Greek food, it was great.

I click the 'X' button in the corner of the screen and the pod door slowly begins to open. I pull at the leads that were attached to my temples, and various other parts of my body. As I push myself up on my elbows, it set in. Muscle atrophy. How long have I been in here? I weakly exit the pod and catch my gasp before it manages to make its way out. Tears warm my fingers as they stream down. Hundreds, if not thousands of pods line the space neatly like chess pieces on a chess board. Each one containing a sleeping human. I recognize some faces. Faces I fought for the last slice of spanakopita, just last night.

I rush to my mom's pod and violently bang my fists against the glass. Not a blink. So sound asleep, blissfully unaware of the horrifying reality she's currently in. I do this for a while. Pulling at cords haphazardly, and failing miserably. Screaming at sleeping faces of loved ones. Sinking to the ground in defeat. Traumatized by my new reality.

The room was huge with no windows and no doors in sight. Just a vast grey space full of blinking lights and sleeping humans, living a fake virtual life that they knew nothing about.

I look down at my hands, they are pale and futile in this moment. What could these two useless human hands do right now? What was even outside this room? What was left of our planet? Are there any humans living normal lives outside these four walls? Are they the ones pulling the strings? I shudder and immediately shut my intrusive thoughts off. Knowing isn't going to change anything.

I have no escape.

I could scream and cry and keep banging on pods for the rest of my miserable life, or...

I could return to my pod, reset my password, and continue living a lie.

Would my memory be erased? Would I know?

When I look back and comb through my memories there was no single moment where I could recall this room. These pods. This life. Amnesia was certain.

I began to shake violently as sobs spilled out of me like vomit.

Did I ever live a 'normal' life? Was anything ever real?

I hiccup as my final tear slid down my cheek and smile weakly. I think of the chicken gyros my friends and I devoured last night. They were phenomenal, juicy, tender and oh-so flavorful. I can pinpoint the exact mouthfeel of the entire meal. How was that all in my head?

It was so palpable, so real...

Who's to say it wasn't?

If my only two options are to live miserably or ignorantly...

I choose ignorance.

They really weren't kidding, ignorance is bliss. At least in this situation it is.

I hug my knees into my chest tightly, holding onto this human flesh like it's the last time. Because... well, it is.

As I shakily bring myself to my feet, I look around at all the faces I love so dearly. My mother, my best friend, my brother.

I'll see you on the other side.

I step back into my pod, reattach the leads, and click the button that will take me away from it all...

Reset your password.