The night of the 24th of December, little Luci couldn’t fall asleep. It could’ve been the anticipation, of the glorious morning of presents and good tidings.It could’ve been dread, at the thoughts of an old man in red breaking into her house, eating her cookies, stealing her milk, and leaving behind a couple of gifts as payment. It could’ve been the carols drifting through the air, passing carolers stopping by houses to wish joy to others with their song. It even could’ve been the fact that little Luci forgot to turn on her nightlight, but was too afraid of revealing the fact she was awake to go turn it on.

Regardless of the cause, Luci couldn’t fall asleep. Maybe if she stared at the ceiling for long enough, her mind would grow bored and switch off. It’s happened before. After all, it’s Christmas eve. She needed sleep. Otherwise, Santa would never come.

She continued to stare at the ceiling until her eyes grew weary. With a yawn, Luci falls asleep.

The morning of the 25th, Luci wakes up. She looks around, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the early-morning. It was Christmas! She hopped out of bed and quickly put on a set of slippers before running out of her room, excited. Down the stairs, in the living room, her Christmas tree shone brightly, casting a multi-colored halo of joy over the entire area. Underneath the Christmas tree, wrapped up in festive paper, was her gift.

Without hesitation, she ran towards it, lifting it in the air, shaking it to see if she could hear what was inside. She heard nothing, filling her with joy and anticipation. She sat down, legs crossed, present in her lap. When she couldn’t wait any longer, she ripped the paper apart, revealing the gift inside.

It was glorious! It was beautiful! It was everything she needed, everything she wanted, the gift she had dreamed of for so long! It was…it…it was…

What was it?

This gift in Luci’s hands seemed to have no form, no color, indescribable and lovable. It existed, but couldn’t be comprehended. What was it? Luci’s grin fades as she gazes deeply into her present, but her mind couldn’t figure it out. What was this gift that she wanted so much? This gift, she dreamed about? What was it?

Suddenly, she gets an idea! Her friend, Lily, only lived down the street! Maybe they could compare gifts! Luci quickly throws on some socks, shoes, and a coat before running out.

Lillie’s house was only down the street, right? Luci ran down the street, illuminated by the early dawn’s light. Surely, Lilah would know.

After a couple of minutes, Luci still hadn’t found Lila’s house. It must have been around here somewhere, right? As Luci looked around, she couldn’t see any indication of which house was her friend’s. AS she looked around, Luci realized she couldn’t distinguish any house from each other!They all had the same white paint, the same porch with the same abandoned bench, even the same strings of festive lights, strung up in the same spot, each bulb glowing the same color in the same pattern.

Luci looked around, scared. She didn’t know where Liana’s house was. She didn’t even know where her own house was! Fear started to crowd her mind as she looked around, before running back to where she started. It didn’t matter which house was Lia’s. Luci just wanted to go home. AS she ran house after house, her fear grew. Surely, there would be some indicator. Some sign she was home…

There! Her house was there, the one painted pink! She ran in, throwing her coat on the ground, before taking the time to calm down.

Was her neighborhood always like this? Where was Lisa’s house…Wait,who was Lisa? Wasn’t her friend named Lily? Or was her name Lia? Did she even exist? As Luci Searched her memory, she couldn’t find a face, a name, or any sign of her friend’s existence.

A powerful wave of emotion cascaded over her breaking all logic, leaving nothing but confusion and sorrow as Luci curls up in a ball and sobs, staring at this gift that was all she wanted and nothing at all, wishing for someone to help her, to comfort her, to tell her it was alright.

No one ever came…

//Executing_file_WunderFul1f3…please wait one moment…

//ERROR 404_file does not exist.

//Execution_failure.

//Try Again Y/N? _

“What’s this?” Dr. Pear gazes at the error message that has popped up on his screen. “An error? How could this have occurred?” He gazes over, pushes up his glasses, and gestures to his colleague, Dr. Liveson.

Dr. Liveson analyzes the error message carefully, before looking back over at his own screen. “Which one is this for?” he asks.

“Vixen”. Dr. Pear responds. “We’ve been doing this for years, but this is the first time we’ve received this error.”

“This” is Project Wonderfulife, a plan designed 12 years ago as a way to help reduce poverty. It involved selecting ten families who met a set of criteria (Single child, less than 20,000 yearly income, etc.), and placing their child in a simulated environment, tailored specifically to cause maximum joy. This was done every Christmas season, as the easiest way to make kids happy is to give them what they want. The family would receive 100,000$ to get them back on their feet, before their child was returned to them. For twelve years, it’s worked exactly like that.

But now? Now Dr.Pear and Dr. Liveson was analyzing the simulated world of “Vixen”, one of this year’s candidates. She was a young girl, maybe eight years old. And she was doing something no kid has ever done in all these years of Wonderfulife.

She was crying.

“What did she want for Christmas?”Dr. Liveson asks, stroking his long, grey beard. “And why couldn’t the system generate it?”

Dr. Pear looks through his files for each child. He eventually finds the one labeled “Vixen, 2112” He opens it up, his fingers quickly dancing along the pages until he finds the list. He pulls it out, and reads it, eyes skimming over the badly-written words.

He curses softly. “Why didn’t anyone fact-check this?!” Dr. Liveson bends over, reading the words, his eyes widening as he goes past each one.

“No wonder the system can’t handle it… It would require more AI, and the systems are already at their limit!” Dr. Livesone shakes his head. “We have to let her go. We can’t keep her in this, it’d be torture!”

Dr. Pear nods, pushing his glasses up from his face. “We’ll need to talk to Dr. Geddy. He’s the one in charge of the organization.” The doctors stand up, taking another glance at the screen, before heading to their boss’s office.

…

Dr. Geddy, a muscular, imposing man, thinks over the things Dr. Liveson and Dr. Pear told him, before sighing. “As much as I might agree with you two…This call is out of my jurisdiction. Anyone who is to be enrolled into the Wonderfulife simulation needs government clearance, and the same goes for leaving the simulation. You’ll need to take it up with them”. The two doctors nod, and leave the room.

“Dr.Liveson, are you alright?” Dr. Pear asks, his companion looking a little pale. “You seem sick!”

Dr. Livesone shakes his head. “ I don’t know…my back has been hurting something awful. I’m not sure how much more moving around I can do…” Dr. Pear leads Dr. Liveson to a chair, where the elderly doctor takes a seat.

“Are you saying…I have to face the government alone?” Dr. Peart asks. Dr. Liveson sighs.

“I would love to help…but my leg hurts so bad, I don’t know if I could make it.” Dr. Pear shoots him a curious glance.

“Your leg? I thought your back hurt…” Dr. Liveson waves off the suggestion,

“Trust me, when you get old, things stop working. Backs, legs, you know how it is. Anyway, good luck with that meeting.” Dr. Pear, unwilling to argue with his mentor, leaves the office. His resolve is harder than steel, his determination present in every step, shaking worse than the San Francisco Earthquake and sweating enough to cause Noah another flood.

Dr. Pear, being a respected member of society with a couple bucks to spare, quickly gets a meeting with his government’s representatives. As he walks into the room, he is met by a massive podium, surrounded by five people in government attire. Dr. Pear takes a deep breath.

“I know it’s most unusual to come before you as I do…” He begins, before explaining the situation.

About ten minutes later, Dr. Pear finishes his explanation. The representatives are silent. Finally, one of them speaks.

“I’m afraid we will have to refuse. Releasing candidates is not part of the plan.” He states, voice loud and booming. The other’s nod.

“But wait! What about the girl? We need her to be happy, that’s the point of the plan!” A different representative speaks up.

“Just put her on some island where she can create an autocratic government or what not. Candy for every meal, no bedtimes…she'll be in bliss.” Dr. Pear shakes his head, harder.

“You really want to keep her here?! When all she wants, all she needs is to find joy… All she wanted for Christmas was for her parents to be happy!! Now that they are, you would deprive her the joy of knowing!? The joy of being in a situation where she can stand proud and happy with her family?!” The representatives grow silent. One of them, a meek man, offers a situation.

“If she’s suffering so much…just kill her.” The rest of the representatives nod. He continues. “Kill her…her parents…they can have that joy in heaven. Or is that not what you wanted?” Dr. Pear shook his head.

“No…you’d kill innocent people before you let her free?! What kind of choice is that?” One of the other representatives smiled.

“The one you have forced us to make. We do not appreciate dissidents.” She smiles. “It is settled. She will die. You will die. Everyone will be happy.”

Without hesitation, Dr. Pear runs for his life, only for his life to end.

…

The year is now 2113. Dr. Liveson and his colleague, Dr. Syrup, watch as multiple errors popup on their new simulation screen.

“What do we do?” Dr. Syrup asks, “They're breaking the system!”

Dr. Liveson strokes his beard. “With more children wanting good for others, we can provide less good for children…Dr. Syrup, leave them be.” Dr. Syrup stares at Dr. Liveson in shock.

“But why?!” Another sigh from the old Dr. Liveson.

“Listen, son. I’ll tell you a story. A story of what happened the last time someone tried to do what’s right for others.

“And it starts on the night of the 24th of December, a little girl named Luci couldn’t fall asleep.”