The Experiment

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But what I entered wasn’t space as I’d always known it. It was something entirely different–a copy, a simulated version of that endless black sea.

I was one of the volunteers. The scientists who created the simulation even paid us for signing up, though the compensation wasn’t nearly adequate to make up for what I experienced there.

It began like this. It was a Wednesday in July. I’d graduated college in May but still hadn’t found a job, so I was working odd jobs and signing up for random studies until I could find one. When I saw a posting for a volunteer in a virtual reality game experiment that paid $1,000, I thought it sounded great. I loved video games, so what could be better than getting paid to play one? Not only that, there was a possibility of weekly trials after the initial experiment to test out any changes made to the game. I figured it would be the perfect source of income until I landed myself a job.

When I arrived at the facility, the interior looked exactly how I thought it would, with white, sterile-looking walls. I told the receptionist I was there for the experiment and was immediately sent back into a room, guided by a woman with short, red hair, wearing a white coat.

When we arrived at the correct room, she scanned a card on the door to open it.

“You’ll wait here with the others,” she said.

I walked into a room with two rows of chairs, full of people. There was only one seat available, next to a girl probably a few years younger than me. She glanced at me, straight-faced, as I took a seat.

Everyone was silent as we waited. There was another door on the other side of the room as well as a clock on the wall, but other than that, the room was fairly empty.

About twenty minutes later, that door on the other side of the room opened. A tall, lanky scientist appeared.

“You’re all volunteers for the virtual reality game experiment?”

I nodded, and so did everyone else.

“The game’s ready now. You can all come back now. But… make sure to leave any possessions in this room. It’s locked, so don’t worry, it’ll all be here when you return.”

As everyone stood up, we assembled a sort of messy line as we approached the door. Entering the room, I saw that it was completely dark except for the bit of light shining in from the waiting room, and the glow from the virtual reality headsets. Long tables and numerous chairs lined the sides of the room, and headsets were arranged in front of each computer chair. I saw that behind each headset, taped to the wall was an index card with a name on it.

“Please locate the seat labeled with your name,” the scientist said.

I found the one that said mine. Ella. After taking a seat, I observed the headset in front of me. The sides of it had glowing red lights.

“Now that you’re all seated,” the scientist explained, ”I ask that you turn on the headset by pressing the white button on the bottom.”

I lifted the headset and found the small button on the bottom, pressing it in. After doing so, the red lights turned blue.

“All right,” the scientist continued. “Well, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Victor, and I’ll be guiding you through this experiment. What you’re about to see during the game is completely confidential. All of this is proprietary software, and the exact details must not be divulged to anyone outside this room. When you leave here today, we require that your involvement in this study remain as private a matter as possible. If you can’t abide by these conditions, I ask that you please leave. You’ll be removed from the study with no repercussions.”

I looked to my left and right, but nobody got up. Everyone stayed in their seats.

“Since all of you have decided to remain in the study, I’ll explain further. As of right now, there are no headsets like this one on the market. It has special sensors on the side that detect your brain waves, creating a sort of psychic link. This technology is what allows complete immersion in the game. There may, however, be some side effects, and that’s what this study is determined to figure out.

“There’s no need for controllers because your avatar in the game will act in sync with your own thoughts. Whatever movement you want to make, the avatar will make, just like moving your actual body. The only caveat we know of so far is that once the brain link has been established, you won’t be able to control your actual body–that is, not until the game ends, through losing, for example, or if I remove the headset manually. But, no worries: since I will be here monitoring all of you for the duration of the game, you’re in safe hands. And… that’s it. We’re ready to begin. You may all put on your headset.”

I considered everything Victor said, feeling a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to control my actual body while I had the headset on. That must be why they’re paying so much for participating, I thought. It’d probably be fine, though, and besides, I couldn’t be too picky right now—I needed the money.

I put on the headset, and what I saw was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I was standing in front of a window in outer space, and everything looked exactly how I’d imagine it would look. Stars glittered in every direction. Even more incredible, though, was the fact that I could move my avatar freely. I looked down at my hand and noticed that I was wearing a spacesuit, and when I thought about moving my fingers, my “avatar” responded accordingly. I had complete control.

When I looked around me, I saw plenty of other people in the spaceship also wearing spacesuits, and I assumed they were the rest of the participants. They walked around, some approaching the giant window I stood in front of, others analyzing the inner details of the spaceship. Bright lights lined the sides of the ship, illuminating what looked like control panels with innumerable colorful buttons.

I began to roam the ship, during which I approached one of the participants and waved; they waved back. Suddenly, a voice from above filled my ears. It was Victor’s voice, which sounded like it was coming from an intercom.

“Across from all of you is a silver door. Please walk over to the door and arrange yourselves in an orderly line.”

Everyone started to line up in front of the door, and so I did too.

“Now, the person in front of the line, please twist open the hatch. One by one, all of you may jump out of the spacecraft. After you exit the ship, I’ll then give further instructions through your helmets.”

I grew closer and closer to the exit, and could clearly see the vast blackness outside. As each person in front of me leaped out of the ship, my heart pounded at the thought of entering the void of space. I just kept reminding myself that it wasn’t real—it was just a game. My body was still in that room, my feet still planted to the ground.

And then it was my turn. I took a deep breath and jumped. I felt a rush of panic as if I was really jumping out of a spaceship, and the feeling was furthered when I looked down and saw nothing but blackness beneath me. I saw all the other participants floating around.

“Now that you’ve all left the spacecraft, your first task is simple,” Victor continued, his voice now echoing inside my helmet. “All of you have depleting oxygen inside your oxygen tanks. There are 10 replacement tanks that will soon appear in the distance, but 14 of you. So, four of you won’t be able to get one. Your task is to secure a tank for yourself. Along the way, you’ll be faced with various obstacles. I’m going to count down from three, and then you’ll go. Three… two… one… go.”

I saw 10 white specks appear suddenly in the distance. With all my ability, I tried to propel myself forward, but I discovered the same resistance as if I were really in space. I imagined swimming forward, and to my surprise, my body did move forward—but not as fast as I wanted. I panicked as I watched the others drift past me.

It’s a game, I kept thinking to myself. There must be a way to go faster, a power-up or something. But when I looked around, nothing stood out, nothing except for the oxygen tanks.

Realizing I had no other options, I turned my gaze forward, locking my eyes on the tank in front of me.

It’s mine, I thought. I’ll make sure of it.