Remnants Of A Hometown

My hometown, my hometown... Years ago, this place was a haven, a treasured, gatekeeping community of happiness and hope.

I come here now and this place is gone, the community I once knew, gone, the people gone. Only despair to be seen and destruction, I now go to find out what has happened to this once great town, I now go to find out what has caused this destruction of the once beautiful landscape and the once happy people.

As I make my way across the grey foggy streets over-encumbered in dust and insects I look to see the dilapidated buildings and some rotten corpses laying on the ground outside, I think I even recognize a few sadly.

But I will not rest until I've found the root of the problem, I will not rest until this once great town that was my home is rid of the destruction caused. As I walk a bit further I notice a young girl signaling me to come her way in a dark, damp alleyway, I know this is bad but I have no other options here. I pick up the pace and start heading towards her, hoping she'd at least show me a bit of help but no, I come close and she runs away, how typical. Anyway, I don't stop there as I continue running behind her, hoping she'd stop the silly games and let me know what happened to my hometown...

I've stopped in an alleyway to take a few breaths and I see her up ahead, walking slower now playing games with me. You might be wondering well this is your hometown right? Where are your parents? What made you realize that there was a problem? Well, I was raised alone, went to school alone, and lived on my own, As a matter of fact, I never had anyone, but I always felt that gave me hope to prove myself to be someone, regardless of having parents supporting me all the time I had to support myself, except the neighbors I had who had told me of my parent's departure from the town, they never explained why they left they just left. I was always curious because well who wouldn't be? But I had that burning passion to just live on and forget it. I'm straying away from my duty now which is to rescue this town of its evil.

I'm now following the girl again, I hope she leads me in the right direction of my goal and oh no, she's led me to some abandoned school, this school I remember from my childhood, this school raised me. The girl has gone inside the building now and I'm following her more, she's gone inside a classroom, I'm going to go in now.

As I open the doors to the classroom I see the girl welcoming me as she sits at the front, formally and happily as if everything was fine. 'How long have you been looking for the truth of the town?' She asked and I was surprised as I only just arrived I don't know what she was talking about. 'Not long, I just arrived moments before I saw you.' I answered back with my knowledge. 'No, no you've been here multiple times, you keep running after me and you then ask me if I know the truth of the town but I don't, in fact, I never have and I'm as clueless about this place as you are.' Shocking news to hear the least considering I've only been here once. 'Why did you run away from me?' 'I didn't want to do it, I just had to.' 'What does that mean? How did you have to run away?'

'I don't know, I just had to run away my legs started running and it led me in this direction, all I know is, I've run away from you many times and we always end up with the same outcome.'

'What would that outcome be?'

'You killing me.'

'Kill you? What? I wouldn't do that to anyone, why would I kill you?'

'I wanted to ask why too, but even you don't know why.'

'It can't be, I just wanted to know the truth of the town, my hometown.'

'I don't know what we're in but I have a feeling it's not the hometown you once knew'

'KILL KILL KILL HER, KILL HER NOW, DO NOT QUESTION ANYMORE, QUESTIONING THIS LEADS TO CONSEQUENCES.'

My head hurts, this voice it's telling me to do something I don't want to do, please, please don't make me kill this young girl. The voice pierces inside my brain like an arrow to a deer.

'IF YOU WILL NOT KILL, WE WILL TAKE YOU OUT, DO YOU WANT OUT.'

I want out, I want out but how do they know what I'm writing, after all this is my journal I'm documenting in.

'So? Are you gonna kill me now?'

'No' I replied one last time before a blue screen washed over me like a tidal wave. The girl disappears along with everything else I had previously seen that I thought was reality. Clearly not.

'SIMULATION 100, THE SUBJECT FINALLY GAINS BRAIN FUNCTIONS AND MAKES HIS OWN DECISIONS, THE SIMULATION IS COMPLETE.'

The robotic voice ordering me to kill shouts now saying I've passed a test.

'Sir, would you like to stop documenting in your journal now, you have passed the test, you can go back to your original hometown, and don't worry it is not plagued or destroyed.'

How was I meant to believe that, after everything I had just gone through?

'Sir? Do you want to go back to your hometown it is great I assure you, it is not destroyed or plagued.'

The scientist replied in a robotic voice.

'Is this real or another simulation?'

'You wouldn't know the difference.'

'I wouldn't'

'Sir, we will start sending you on your way, here are your bags and personal belongings.'

'Okay, I would like to return to my hometown, the real one of course.'

'Certainly.'

Just like that another blue screen covered me again and I was placed in another simulation, will I ever get out? I don't know I hope so, yet this simulation feels a lot different, more vibrant, I feel as if I've gone up a level but I'm not quite near the end...