Mindwarp

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1

Nothing to be done, except

escape.

Infinisynth.

More fantastic than fantasy.

More real than reality.

The ultimate experience

is Infinisynth.

It's all been remade for you.

And it's anything

you want it to be.

It's your reality.

Let your dreams come true

in your very own world.

Hook in to the happiness system.

Relax, imagine, enjoy.

Hook in.

Bullshit.

Judy, you don't know how

much of a fool you're being.

You don't even know what

you're fighting against.

Leave me alone.

Injustice? Everyone gets

exactly what they want.

Authority.

You can be your own

God. Everything is...

Everything is fake! You're all

just lying to yourselves.

What will it take to

make you understand?

Just leave me alone!

Proximity. Excuse me.

Excuse...

Functioning:
Online.

Proximity.

Mom?

Oh, Jenny, you're up.

Judy, Mom.

Judy's my name. You named

me that, remember?

Of course, dear.

That's what I said.

Are you hungry?

No.

You're not feeling sick

or anything, are you?

Of course not.

Good.

Mom,

I want to talk to you.

What are you doing off-line?

Why aren't you hooked in?

I was hooked in.

But it doesn't work anymore.

I just get hassled by the Sysop.

The Systems Operator,

he won't leave me alone.

So, I was sitting, just sitting,

listening to Dad's music.

And I don't know, I just

wanted to talk to someone.

Talk? Come on, now, dear.

This isn't your card.

It's Dad's!

My father, your husband?

Where did you get it?

I've had it for years. I felt...

Weren't we supposed to turn it

in or throw it out or something?

No!

Well...

Mom, what happened to him?

Oh, well, you know, dear,

that was so long ago.

I don't see why you

should dwell on it.

Mom, tell me what

happened. I want to know.

There's nothing to tell.

I unplugged, and he was just gone.

He must have done it himself.

They never told me

exactly what he did.

Did you ask?

Well...

He wasn't happy

anyway, I knew that.

Such a sour man, really,

now that I think about it.

I'm not happy, either.

Just hook back in. You'll be fine.

No!

I want to do something.

I want to go somewhere.

You can do whatever you want.

Go wherever you want.

I mean here.

Here?

There's nothing here.

That's why we have

Infinisynth, honey.

Well...

I'm awake, Mom.

I want to stay awake!

Wake up. Please.

Stop it! Can't you just stop it?

Wake up!

Mom. Mother.

Please wake up.

I need to talk to you.

Mom...

I'll wake you up.

Time to wake up, Mom.

Wake up!

Judy, that's enough.

You're an exceptional girl, Judy.

You've managed to

violate the system.

You've entered the

environments of other users.

No one has ever done that before.

And I can't allow

it to happen again.

You must realize that your

actions have dire consequences.

What do you want from me?

I don't want anything.

I'm the Systems Operator.

The question is, what do you want?

I was only trying to get

through to someone.

We gave you everything.

Everything you could want.

Everything you could imagine.

I... I want something

real. Anything.

Ah!

We're... We're stuck

inside our own heads.

It's worse than a

prison. It's nothing.

Nothing at all. Am I the

only one that can see that?

There has to be more.

More than you can imagine?

Yes. All I want is...

Is something real.

All right.

I'll give it to you.

I'm taking you offline.

What are you talking about?

It's what you wanted, isn't it?

The unimaginable.

Oh, God.

I didn't mean to really kill her!

No! Let me go!

Stop it! Stop!

Let me out of here!

Stop it, you're hurting me!

Who are you? Why are

you doing this?

Let me go!

Stop!

What is this place?

Hey!

Hello!

Hello!

Is anybody there?

Hello!

God, no!

Somebody, somebody help me!

Somebody help me!

Help me!

Please! Please! No!

Help me!

Thank you. Oh, thank you.

Let me go!

Stop it! You're hurting me!

Stop it!

Oh! Let me go!

Get that away from me,

you son of a b*tch!

Let me go!

No!

Don't!

If you don't cover up, you'll die.

It's all right.

It's possum.

I don't eat human flesh.

Who are you?

My name's Stover.

I'm Judy.

What the hell is happening?

You were out by the edge of the

Deadlands. Crawlers got you.

Crawlers? Cannibals?

It's the ugly fucks that live

underground in the landfills.

It's just a wash.

It's for the chemicals

in the ground.

Thank you.

Close your eyes.

You're an InWorlder.

A what?

You're one of them.

You don't belong here.

I know.

Well, how the hell

did you get here?

I don't know.

I'd go back if I could.

Do you know the way?

Ain't no maps to heaven.

Well, there's gotta be a way.

Well, I figure it's out

someplace past the Deadlands.

But there's no way through there.

Why not?

The sickness hits you.

Brain sickness.

You just want to die.

You've seen others

like me, haven't you?

Yep. But they're usually dead.

Is it always this cold?

No. In the winter, it's worse.

I had no idea what was outside.

I didn't even think

there was an outside.

That's because you've forgotten.

You've all forgotten, haven't you?

You poisoned the world, you

stripped a layer off the sky,

and when the ice

came, you just left.

You left us here to die!

You left us in your sh*t!

And now, you don't even remember.

I never knew!

The system never told

us anything about it!

Well, my people never forgot.

Your people?

My ancestors.

Now, maybe there wasn't room

enough for them in InWorld.

But we never went under.

Where are your people now?

Gone.

Dead.

You'll need these.

Now, what you're looking for

is a pattern in the sand.

You see over here? That's okay.

But over here, you see how

smooth the surface is?

There we go.

That's great.

Crawler hole.

Why do the Crawlers do that?

They don't. I put her up there.

She froze to death.

That's my wife.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Of course, I'd prefer

to bury the dead,

but the ground isn't safe.

The Crawlers, they, uh...

They find the meat.

My father's over there.

They got my mother.

They took her under.

What about that one over there?

Oh, that? That's an InWorlder

I found years ago.

Another exile.

Do you remember what

he looked like?

Couldn't tell.

Not even an InWorlder deserves

to become their food.

Family?

My family's dead.

Just give me that.

With Infinisynth, you live your life

in a room, plugged into the system.

You're awake long enough

to eat and use the toilet,

and that's it. That's all there is.

But there's no pain, no danger.

If reality's all in your

mind, isn't that enough?

Not for me.

It can be beautiful here.

It's safe now.

The sun's low, filtered

through more atmosphere.

Any other time...

I've never seen a real book before.

This is the Bible.

I've heard of it.

But who needs Bibles in heaven?

Then what do you believe in?

Have you no hope for eternity?

If you want eternity,

Infinisynth can give it to you.

It's just a sensation.

If you want to shake the

hand of God, you do it.

It's a program.

What about you?

What did you do in the machine?

I explored other planets.

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