Year 2035, Nate's POV

There was the clock. Every day, the company clock would go off, signaling the end of work. Not for me though, I stayed for an extra hour. I'm not supposed to, robots sweep the building looking for stragglers, but I've evaded them for all three years that I've been at this company. I wait an hour so that the bullet train is empty. It's just me and the world around me, no one else. All alone. I used to take the train with my wife, we worked at the same company. Not anymore. She left me. I suddenly look at my watch and realize that the trains are deserted now. I hop aboard. This train can reach speeds of up to 520 miles per hour, and the conductor never holds back. I simply gaze out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the shimmering billboards we pass by. I can never really read them. I see one of our company billboards. We sell virtual reality machines, called the immersion tube. You literally go under using some crazy memory gases and then our special technology can send you anywhere you want to go. You can even relive old memories. It's basically high tech brain manipulation. That's the good thing for working at my company, you get one machine for your household. Me and my daughter are so poor we would have never been able to afford it if we saved up for years. At least my job pays well enough so that we can still have an apartment. The machine takes up the entire living room and dining room, but me and my daughter usually just hang out in our rooms. I rarely see her now. It's better that way. The train stops, signaling that it is my time to get off. The journey only takes three minutes. Sometimes, I wish it was longer. Today, I am glad for the short ride. I have work to do when I get home. When I opened the door, I am immediately greeted with the sweet smell of a candle, freshly extinguished by my daughter, who's been home from high school for hours now. It was late, almost eleven-thirty. I opened her door ever so gently. She was fast asleep and dreaming, a glass of water and a bottle of pills on her bedside table. Her sleep medicine. I hoped it worked as well as it said it would on the bottle, because I don't need her to wake up tonight. If she does, she will try to stop me, and I can't hold back any longer. I want to see my wife. Jessica. I want to see her. The virtual reality chamber would allow me to do this. I slowly closed the door and locked it using my key, then walked ever so lightly to the machine. It was truly magnificent to behold. I quickly connected my computer to the machine and began searching for the file I wanted. Once the machine booted up, it showed the turning on screen, which was a video of my wife telling people to be careful when using this product. She was the one that did all the commercials. She was on all the billboards for this product, but it wasn't enough for me. I keep trying to tell myself that she is happier without me, but I can't imagine it. I found the file, then selected it. It was the day I had taken her to the Santa Monica Pier, to walk the boardwalk and get some fresh air. To try something new. I booted it up and watched the loading bar hit 100 percent. The tube where I would soon enter glowed green.