20.

In the still of the laboratory, a waiting game is being played. Nothing to be done but wait, or risk destruction of the construct and or the lives of those within it. Of course, Nigel entered the incomplete construct where he is fully immersed and suffering the consequences of entering before its completion. Josh Redmond went in willing on a sort of peace offering to prevent hasty action from those who have infiltrated the laboratory.

They, the infiltrators, of course, have the right to be there, so say the terms of a contact both Nigel and Josh had signed. They broke the terms, as unfair as those terms may be, and in order to prevent the loss or takeover of the construct, they entered it ... fully, and Josh has done so through slightly altered means ensuring he went in with something.

Una Ryan and Aiden Thompson both had also gone in but not through a fully immersed level, so they are both back in the lab. The work was ever so close to completion but not quite there prior to Nigel's entry. Under duress, work continued. Not getting quite what he came for, Aiden had one of his associates sent in through Josh's back door entry and this fellow went in with a much higher percentage of memory retention than zero percent.

The percentage still nowhere close to the hundred mark, but high enough that he could go in with agenda of getting things done, and what this associate fellow got for his efforts was a severe beating, one he could feel the effects of once freed from the system. And in those efforts of his he done more harm than good, harm that is irreparable and devastating.

Reality and virtual reality are odd things, and the reality of it all, despite the fact no one truly wanted to discuss it, was that a time would realistically come for the shit to realistically hit the fan, and so it comes breaking the temporary waiting stillness.

Being fully immersed within the construct is essentially having a consciousness transferred from the host body into the construct. Therefore, three comatose bodies lay on beds within a cordoned off area of the laboratory, quiet and safe as safe could be until alarms began sounding off.

Josh Redmond's body was seizing, every muscle in his body tensing. The fifth member of the creation team sprang into action ... a doctor whose part in the creation of the construct was the effects it may or may have on the body as well as the mind, working with the others on the safest way to transfer consciousness into the construct.

As it was and has been, this was the final part of the process, for as we know, there is a problem with memory retention. The construct itself was more or less ready to go. And now the first serious problem. Panic ensued, reading was monitored, and it was clear, Josh was hurt or being hurt from within the construct and the effects of such are destroying his body and mind.

Little for the doctor to do other than administer a sedative. Blood began to exit through the nose and then mouth, a trickle at first, then a gush and within moments ... there was a flatline. Josh Remond, the oldest member of the team, the heart and soul, the life of the party, the optimist, was dead ... is ... dead.

Disaster ... dejection ... waves upon waves of all things horrid hit. Even Aiden Wilks was taken aback. He himself isn't such a bad man, he wouldn't think himself bad at all, he's just caught in a no-win scenario, with a guilt hitting now that he could never have anticipated. Quietness briefly resumes such is the shock of what just occurred. The moment isn't over yet.

The associate fellow, immersed in the construct. His body now begins to react. He too is under pressure from within the construct. It could be pieced together as to what is happening. No one within the laboratory knows for sure what is happening within the construct. A certain something can be deduced, if time was not so much of the essence.

The associate is experiencing pain form within the construct, something different than what Josh went through. His convulsions last about a minute or so. He too is bleeding from the nose and mouth but only at the trickling level, there is no gush of blood. The convulsions stop, the man is hurt but still living and will likely live, so long as his consciousness can be retrieved, which is retrieved. Nigel can't be retrieved so easily such is his link. In one way it is just as well for it delays any possible access the Corporation can have with it. Now time now to pay further consideration to this fact as ...

And now Nigel's body is experiencing some sort of stress levels. Whatever he is doing within the construct, he is pushing too hard, he needs to slow himself and do such soon or face the consequences. One fatality is two much ... two ... well ...

21.

Restraint ... restraint is something Nigel cannot be sure as to whether or not it is a virtue in his regular life beyond the construct. There is an element of a return to himself, however, it is ever so small it can't really be taken into consideration. There is only a feeling running through him as to what might be and what might not be.

Yeah, he may have connections with the likes of Una and Steve outside of the construct, he actually knows for sure that he does, ... his interactions with them both inside of the construct had been minimal. With what is, whatever the extent of his friendship with Josh was outside the construct, it had rekindled to quite the level here on the inside.

Nigel can't entirely be sure as to the welfare of either Una or Steve, the feeling within him suggests that they both are fine ... dependant, of course, on what may be happening elsewhere, ... this with Josh ... well, it certainly feels like a finality. In all iterations of life, Josh is gone with zero possibilities that this may not be the case.

Their friendship reconnected in the construct, and no matter how short the time they had in here ... it did feel as an achievement had be reached, something made all the more important that these two men share in it together. With the death, the finality ... it is understandable that Nigel would lose it, release pent up emotion likely to have been building long before Nigel's waking moment within the construct.

He feels a tightness in his chest that is not just physical, but a deep, soul-wrenching ache that words seem inadequate to describe. There is a heaviness in the air, an unspoken grief that lingers, pressing down upon everyone present ... whether in here or out there. Nigel clenches his fists, fighting the urge to cry out, to let the enormity of the loss consume him, yet knowing that now is not the time for surrender ... he must hold on, for himself and for those who remain.

And before an intruder can even begin to think about harming Nigel ... the consequences of which could be fatal in many numbers of ways ... Nigel himself acts first and hits out with almost everything he has until indeed restraint is interjected. Whether it is anger, confusion, the pain of loss, or the unsurely of what comes next ... Nigel begins to run and he continues to run, pushing his existence to its extremes.

Each step feels both liberating and punishing, every stride a desperate attempt to outrun the storm of emotions swirling inside him. The world blurs at the edges, his senses overwhelmed by the raw intensity of his grief and adrenaline. Still, Nigel refuses to falter; propelled by a mix of anguish and determination, he presses forward, seeking solace or perhaps simply exhaustion, in the endless motion. All the while his physical body reacts.

The pounding of his heart, matched inside the construct and outside of it back in the lab, serves as both a metronome and a warning, its insistence echoing through the haze of Nigel's thoughts as he pushes himself further into the uncertain expanse before him. With every breath, the air grows thinner ... charged with the weight of everything lost and everything at stake ... both realities colliding, yet he dares not slow, unwilling to let despair catch up. An electricity builds in him ... ready to explode at any given moment.

The world before him, now a shifting landscape of shadow and fleeting light, seems to bend around his frantic pace, offering neither sanctuary nor threat, merely the continuation of his urgent flight. Somewhere in the blur, a faint hope flickers. ... Perhaps with enough distance, some clarity, some release might be found. But for now, Nigel is captive to momentum alone, every step a testament to the turmoil that drives him onward.

Indeed, both realities collide, not visually nor with a return of memory but with the limits of each and both together being reached. There is panic and debate in the real-world laboratory with the need to interject and do something but do what? Everything could be lost here. The construct, the technology, and more importantly ...Nigel's life. If he pushes too hard, he will die ... if he dies, his life's work implodes.

The problem temporarily solves itself as a limit has been reached and probably exceeded. Nigel stops and falls to his knee, struggling to find a breath. His body continues to react. Give him a sedative or possibly something else? This is all new territory. The doctor can't even speculate. The only thing anyone can do for Nigel is to wait and watch.

The construct may be a simulation, the effects of any and all actions are very real. And in his struggle to catch a breath, Nigel passes out. He is ... in his conjoined existence ... still breathing. Those who watch and wait can now take a breath themselves. Nigel will live, the construct will continue, ... for now at least.

Out of left field ... Aiden Wilks has a suggestion to make. In the renewed stilled quite of the laboratory, Aiden locks eyes with each remaining member of the constructs team.

'Send me in ...'

'You what now?' Una asks confused, considering the thought ... you really want us to send you back in with all of who you are and what you're doing and have done?

'Send me in ...' Aiden repeats before Una can begin to share her thoughts. '... all the way this time. Full immersion. I'll bring this to an end ... as fairly as I can ... I promise.'

'The Corporation doesn't do anything fair ...' Una states the obvious.

'And I know that all too well. I am, after all, here against my will, my better judgement, against my very own nature such is the situation the Corporation have locked me into. It is time to make a change and do the right thing ...'

Looks are shared and a decision is shared. It will take a few hours to further prep Aiden for full immersion, and there are risks, as there is uneasiness. If something can be done to bring about a positive conclusion, then shouldn't it be given the chance to do so?