22.

Five glasses clink with a cheers in celebration of the successful test run of a bar room simulation. It may be Nigel's project ... the bar idea came mostly from Josh with plenty of input from Steve of course, with the barman in the simulated bar being based upon Steve himself, an avatar so to speak ... to the point that the simulated barman is even named Steve.

Yeah, this room is Josh's baby. So he was the one to enter and give it the once over, sure who better to judge what a simulated whiskey may taste like, how it feels going down the throat, it's very texture and colour, smell and taste ... all through a simulated body, an avatar of a different kind, a recreation of Josh himself matching every scar, every wrinkle, every grey strand of hair.

This room required full immersion but only needs a fraction of the power a fraction of the subroutines a full interactive world would need. Memory loss, or any other kind of degradation from consciousness transfer should be minimal. The test, the experiment was a complete success, right down to every little table including a slightly unlevel table which needed a beermat, a simulated beermat, placed under one leg to keep it completely steady.

And now the celebratory drink or three between the creation team is enjoyed in what is the real world. They still have a long way to go, though this most recent success is huge, one heck of a giant step forward.

As the group relaxes, laughter fills the air, mingling with the lingering sense of accomplishment. The atmosphere is charged not just with relief, but with a renewed sense of determination ... every member acutely aware that the next phase will be even more demanding. Amidst the banter, subtle glances convey unspoken questions and quiet resolve; on this night, they allow themselves this brief celebration, knowing tomorrow will bring fresh challenges and decisions that could change everything.

Nigel wakes with that very same feeling of achievement, and the feeling of joy of celebration but it fades as the seconds in the waking moment tick by. Has he just woke from a dream, a dream that was also a real-world memory? It sure seems that way. Wait, is he out of the construct? If he is then that means ... that means ... what exactly? He's not sure ...

The place he is within right now looks to be some sort wooden made room, something part of a cabin perhaps, so in his altered state he can't tell if this is a place he knows in the real world or is one imagined or created within the construct. The fact that he is unsure in itself answers any query. If he were no longer within the construct then his memory would surely have returned, therefore ...

He attempts to get up and right away he can sense movement nearby before seeing it. A woman approaches, someone at least a little familiar.

'Hey now, steady there ... no more limit pushing for you, for a while at least. You need to rest a little.'

Something clicks, especially having woken from a possible memory-based dream.

'Doc? ... that you? Am I out ...?'

'Not out, no, not in any sense of the word. And you recognize me, don't you?'

'Yeah, no, ... I don't know ... you're the Doc, right?'

'Yes, I'm the Doc. Do you remember my name?'

'Na. Ni ... Niki ... Nikita, ... something.'

'Very good, don't worry. The rest will come soon enough.'

'How are you here? And how have you got your memory?'

'That's the thing Nigel, I'm not here, and you would know that if you did have your memory intact.'

'Huh?'

'In here, we adorn avatars as we are not in our own bodies. I'm what we call a Replicant. Doc is still in the real world. We were always bound to run into issues, especially with early entries into the construct. Once we got to a hundred percent with the construct, we would still have one or two things to iron out ... I'm here to provide medical expertise from within. Rest assured, my counterpart is looking after you in the laboratory. You pushed yourself a little too much a little while back, caused you to collapse.'

'The lab, huh?'

'Yes, so take it easy, alright?'

'Sure. But if you're here to aid with medical issues, why didn't you come help Josh?'

'Issues, Nigel. Remember?' It's not all ironed out yet. I can be some places but not everywhere. The construct as good as being as infinite as an entire world, more than that in fact, even with it being well below a hundred percent.'

'So, you're like a projection? A kind of guide built from the system?'

'That's a good way to look at it. My presence here is a blend of programming and residual consciousness, calibrated to respond to emergencies and aid in acclimatisation. But there are boundaries, Nigel ... glitches, limitations. Nothing here is perfect, not yet.'

'I don't do glitches ...' Nigel quietly says to himself.

'Huh? What's that?'

'Oh, nothing, just thinking to myself.'

There is a knock somewhere beyond the room. So, this is a multiroomed cabin. Nigel has yet to get a proper look at his immediate surrounding. He is intrigued to know more ... anything to take his mind away from what happened to Josh. He can deal with all that at another time, once ... once, ... once things are looking more on the up and up. The Doc moves out of sight to go deal with whatever the knocking is. Pretty soon, Nigel hears her speak ...

'You shouldn't be here ...'

Who and what is that all about?

23.

Nigel waits, straining to catch any more words. The air in the cabin seems to hold its breath, filled with an uneasy silence after the Doc's terse statement. Footsteps shuffle in the passageway, muffled and tentative, as if whoever has arrived is uncertain or unwelcome. Nigel's curiosity intensifies, but a flicker of anxiety keeps him rooted to where he lays, reluctant to intrude on the exchange just beyond his door.

'I've come to speak to Nigel; it's of the upmost importance ...' speaks the visitor.

'Sorry, I cannot allow that ...'

'You what?'

'Please leave ...'

'What? No, that is something I cannot do ...'

The visitor is not having any more of this encounter. He barges past and through into the cabin.

'Nigel ...' he calls out before spying an entrance to a space beyond the room he has entered. And in this room is Nigel, laying in a bed looking tired and bedraggled, somewhat ill even. 'Nigel, thank God, you don't know me but ...'

The Doc has impatiently followed this man into the room Nigel rests within. 'I have told you already, I cannot allow this. You must go.'

She grabs onto an arm of his and he unsuccessfully attempts to shrug her off.

'Leave me be, woman, ... my name is Aiden Wilks' he now says redirecting his attention back to Nigel. 'You don't know me, well ... not who I actually am, but ...'

Before this Aiden fellow can go on any further, it looks to Nigel that the fellow who has come to him is experiencing pain, pain which quickly becomes excruciating. Then he begins to ... glitch ... there, gone, there again, gone again just like that lady on the train with the exception that this Aiden fellow turns into static. His whole being turns into what can be described as snow not unlike that of the like which would appear on old analogue televisions. And then, just like that, he is gone.

'What just happened, where did he go?'

If all of which has occurred since waking within that first train station isn't confusing enough, then this moment sure as hell is. It was the Doc's touch that sent him away ...

'Forget about him' Doc says. 'He represents the corporation. Rest a while, we move on in a couple hours or so.'

'... to where?'

'That is for me to consider. You just rest now, while you can. Rest for the mind is as good as that for the soul and body ...'

Nigel tries to process what he has just witnessed, his mind races with questions and doubts. The silence in the room is almost ... deafening, broken only by the faint hum of some distant machinery. He glances at the Doc, searching her face for answers, but her expression remains firm, betraying little. Despite his confusion and lingering fear, exhaustion begins to tug at his eyelids, urging him to obey her advice and surrender, if only briefly, to rest.

Machinery, electronics in a place like this ... most confusing in itself. A log cabin, an unlit oil lamp on a bedside locker. And all that within a virtual construct too. If the construct is to be true to the surroundings it presents, like that station he woke in and the train he boarded being that of something from the past, with a destination arrival being somewhat futuristic, it could be safe to assume that a past setting is where he lays ... but with modern or futuristic additions ... most confusing indeed.

As events transpire in the laboratory, Aiden's body reacts to what he goes through. His vitals spike and his body jerks and tenses. The worst is assumed as it happens though he does settle and his vitals return to normal as he remains within the construct ... just not in the position he had arrived too.

With things being what they are, Aiden is monitored by the Doc herself, her actual self, as for what exists within the construct is a replica, designed to heal and provide aid from within.