Deep Thought

The Year 2030. COVID19 cases have increased drastically and the only way to socialize is through virtual reality. People are able to connect in the virtual world Deep Thought.

We see a young woman named Starr in her early 20’s wearing a VR headset that is plugged into a laptop. A little black notebook icon glows on the screen. She clicks the icon and the message reads “Congratulations! Thank you for accepting the invitation to join Deep Thought. Please take the take the time to read through the user manual and sign that you agree to to the terms and conditions. You are one of the first 200 users to sign up for Deep Thought. To celebrate, we are offering $20,000 to be used in the system. To accept the offer click accept.” Starr hesitates for a moment but clicks the accept button. $20,000 now appears on the right corner of the screen to show how much money she has available. A new message icon appears on screen. Starr clicks the icon and the message reads “Thank you for accepting your sign up offer. Please take the time to create your avatar. There are new clothes and accessories uploaded daily. Feel free to shop around 24/7.” Starr begins scrolling through the different clothing items and entering other virtual shopping stores. She spends $200 on her new clothes and picks an outfit for her avatar. A blue icon that says “Enter Deep Thought” appears on screen. The woman clicks the icon and her avatar is planted in the center of a blue room. She circles the room in confusion. We see another woman in her early 20’s approach her.

“Hey Starr!” The other woman shouts. “Hey Naomi”, Starr replies back as she goes to hug her. “What took you so long? Naomi asks. Starr replies, “I had to download the software and go through the tutorials and the welcoming process. And you know my internet speed is slow!"

Naomi and Star walk through the hallway of Deep Thought and see a few families and friends interacting. “This is so cool! We finally get to be a part of the new virtual community. I can’t wait for Skylar and Jason to sign up.” Naomi says. "Well we're the first users. I told them to get on the waitlist as soon as I heard about. Not my fault, they didn't jump on it." Skylar Shrugs. "I don't blame them for being hesitant. A virtual reality that we can log on to just seemed to good to be true," Naomi replies.

The girls look around and continue to see other people being transported into the main lobby of Deep Thought. "So this is Deep Thought? Just an empty hallway where people can meet up?" Starr asks. "Well, this just the welcome page. There are plenty of activities for us to do." Naomi touches the palm of her hand, and an image of a map appears. "Ok, so where do we go from here?" Star asks as she looks at the icons of the map glowing above Naomi's hand. "Glad you asked. Here I’ll send you the location of our next destination." Naomi places her hand on Starr’s forehead. "Umm what are you doing?" Star stands there nervously. "Relax. This will only take a minute." As Naomi’s hand rests on Starr’s head, the image of a nightclub glows. "Ok. You’re good to go. Also I uploaded a few items to your wardrobe to fit the occasion. See you in a bit!"

Starr and Naomi’s avatars glow and they are transported to the night club Lucid Dream. Starr appears in the club and she is now wearing a skin tight black dress. She walks to the bar and waits for Naomi. Naomi sees her and sits with her at the bar. Naomi presses a button at the bottom of the bar and the bartender cyborg appears. He smiles and hands them both touchscreen tablets. The women order their drinks by swiping through the screen. The drinks suddenly appear and the girls do a toast. "Cheers! Here’s to staying indoors and somewhat not social distancing." The girls clink the glasses today.

"I can’t believe it’s been 9 years since COVID hit." Naomi sighs and sips her drink. "I know. Who knew a pandemic would lead to this? A whole new way of living life." Skyy looks around at people dancing and others drinking at the bar. "I know but it’s not all that bad. Deep thought has given us a chance to interact and feel normal again," Naomi smiles. Starr's eyebrows raise. "...Wow." Naomi is confused at Starr's reaction. "What's wrong?" Starr stares at her drink, "The word Normal. This is normal to you? Uploading into a virtual world, drinking artificial alcohol?" "Oh come on. You know what I mean. This is how we live now. We’re completely banned from going outside. And honestly I like my artificial mojito," Naomi sips her drink while glaring at Starr. "You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to downplay anything, it’s just that I haven’t been out in so long and Deep Thought is gonna take a while for me to get used to." You know what helps?! Meeting new people. Let’s look on the Fresh Face page!" Naomi jumps up with excitement. "No. I can’t." Starr turns away from Naomi unamused. "Come on. It’s fun! We can see who’s online right now." Naomi projects an image and we see a man’s face. She continues swiping through different images of men. Star swipes the images away. "Stop it! Look, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t go looking for anyone else until I was ready. I don’t want to break that promise." "I’m sorry... I know how you feel...well...felt about Tai." Naomi's eyes sadden. "It’s fine. I’m just trying to forget. I guess it's another reason why I thought logging on to Deep Thought would be a good idea. Like I said, I just need more time." Starr touches Naomi's hand. " No problem. Let's just keep exploring Deep Thought. They have this really cool Thai place that I want to check out. My treat?" Naomi asks as she gets ready to check the map in her hand. "Umm did you forget that I'm one of the winners for the signup offer. My treat." Starr brings up the map icon in the palm of her hand. "Lucky you! I was number 205...yea definitely your treat!" Naomi clicks the icon of the restaurant.

Starr places her hand on Naomi's forehead, their avatars glow a light purple. They are both teleported to the restaurant Chill Thai. They are greeted by the hostess avatar and sit down at the table. Starr orders food for her and Naomi. A green icon appears over the head with the title "Achievements unlocked. " Naomi and Starr have achieved "First deep Thought, Lucid Dreaming, and Chilling out." This is only the beginning of their new life.

End

I plan on continuing this story. I just wanted to get the idea out there. Thanks for reading!