THE PEACH-WHITE ROOM

“Hey, who are you? What is this place?”

“Hi. I’m Stephan. I’m not sure. I’ve been asking myself the same question.”

“I wonder why I’m here. All I know is that I was at the clinic, waiting.”

“What were you waiting for?”

“I was and am waiting for a kidney, mine is broken. Still, I don’t know how I got here. I woke up here.”

“Me too. I mean, I don’t need a kidney. First, I woke up alone, then lost consciousness, and the next time I opened my eyes I saw you. How should I call you?”

“I’m Peter, so we are the only two guys in this room. Why do you think you are here?”

“Well, I have no idea. I've been pleading to the universe to guide me, to give me a sign to choose wisely. So, this might be the answer or where I'll find it. I've been waiting for a business opportunity that works.”

“That is something you don’t wait for, do you? You should be creating the opportunity, studying and testing it, or at least searching actively.”

“Yes, you’re right. The thing is that I have plenty of ideas, though I can’t make up my mind. I might be in this place to finally make a decision.”

“So, in a nutshell, you are waiting for yourself.”

“Sort of… yeah, I think,” said Stephan shrugging.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed while they were looking around to assess their situation, and then Peter reestablished communication.

“I’m glad I’m not alone into this unknown.”

“I wish there was a window or a door. This room with marble floor, peach-white walls, and white flat ceiling give me no clue. What do you think about this place?”

“There is not much to say about it. Well… at least these recliners are comfortable.”

 “That’s true. Very uncommon for what looks like a waiting room, but there is no TV, nothing for entertainment. On the bright side, the temperature is pleasant and there is a sweet smell of vanilla.”

“Vanilla? For me, it smells like strawberries.”

“Really? That’s odd. What if I want to—?

Peter and Stephan fell asleep. A couple of minutes later, someone joined them.

“Who are you two? Did I go through surgery? Am I dead?”

“I’m Peter and this is Stephan. To save you time… We don’t know the answer to where, when, how, who, whose, etc. I barely know our names. We haven’t figured out anything. But, don’t worry. Nothing bad has happened yet.”

“Yet? Do you expect something bad to happen to us?”

“Not really. I have no idea. What’s your name?”

“Angela. Did both of you wake up here? Like I just did?

“Good guess!” said Stephan.

“Apart from waking up here, what were you doing just before? Do you remember?” asked Angela.

“The last thing I remember is waiting for my turn to see my doctor. My eyelids felt heavy, then, Puff!, here I am,” said Peter.

“Well, in my case, I was daydreaming about online retailing. I imagine that I fell asleep,” said Stephan.

“I see. The only thing in common is that we fell asleep and woke up here, with no common back-story,” said Angela.

“What’s your story?” asked Peter.

“Mm, no clue? you don’t listen ah? I was under anesthesia, hoping to wake up in the recovery room and later to hear good news about my tumor.”

“You are fortunate that you didn’t appear naked. Were you wearing that same clothes before entering the operating room?”

“I think so. This must be a very vivid dream.”

Once more, they were sent to sleep. Someone new appeared asking the same questions, but this time they had to repeat the lacking-clarification answers.

“Mrs. Romano, how old are you?” asked Angela.

“What, darling?”

“How old ar—?”

“Oh, darling. You know you don’t ask that to a lady, but I’m too old to care. I’m eighty-three and I was sat on a bench, feeding pigeons when I started drooling like any other day. Now I’m here with you, kids.”

“What… were… you… waiting… for?” asked Angela, interweaving words with hand signs.

“Death or my boyfriend, whoever got to me first. My boyfriend was at the other end of the park, so maybe death would reach me before him, he is that fast,” said Mrs. Romano with a smile.

“Now that we are here, all waiting for different reasons, let’s enjoy this. I see there are still two empty seats. Do you believe this has to do with being chosen for anything special?” asked Peter.

“I have no idea, maybe it is some sort of collective dream. Would this be the creation of only one of our minds, so any of you can be part of my dream, or I might be part of one of yours?” said Angela.

“That is a science fiction point of view, no one can be sure. What do you think Mrs. Romano?” said Stephan.

“What, darling?”

“Oh no, it is going to be hard to discuss almost anything with you, my dear granny. Especially this brainstorming. I wish you could participate; you must have quite a background with peculiar ideas.”

“I believe we’ve been abducted and we are in a parallel dimension where some intelligent being is studying our behavior. Who knows, we could be some kind of focus group,” said Mrs. Romano.

Stephan, Peter, and Angela were looking at one another, startled.

“Mrs. Romano, your hearing comes and goes, right?” asked Angela.

“Not quite, my darling. I have no hearing impairment at all, it is just a game I like to play with younger people. This way I can see how kind and patient the people around me are. However, I didn’t want to miss participating in your dissertation, so I didn’t raise the bar.”

“Good thinking, granny. May I call you granny?”

“Yes, you may, my darling. You all can call me granny or auntie.”

“Thank you. You seem to be a smart and savvy granny,” said Peter.

“You are a gentleman, thank you.”

Now, it was time for a fifth addition to the group. Once again all went to sleep and woke up simultaneously. The first four updated the newcomer and got to know her.

“People call me, Sabrina, and my mommy calls me Sabin. I’m nine years old. This dream is different and smells like tutti-frutti, my favorite gummy flavor.”

“So, you think you are dreaming. As we told you, we are not sure about that,” said Stephan.

“What else could it be? My mom wouldn’t allow me to be here on my own, so it must be a dream.”

“Well, there is a logic in that. I wish I had a sense of smell, tutti-frutti was my favorite as a child,” said Angela.

“Why don’t you?” asked Sabin.

“Sinusitis, chronic sinus.”

“Darlings, I need to pee. Is there a restroom?” Said Mrs. Romano.

“Good question. There are no visual disruptions on the walls. There might be a secret passage; we haven’t searched for it,” said Stephan.

“True. None of us has stood up, we all have remained seated. Have any of you noticed that?” said Peter.

“Why are we saying and not doing?” asked Mrs. Romano and then she stood up, no without effort: getting out of the recliner was challenging for her.

Within her height range (she was around five feet tall), she inspected every inch of the walls by touching, trying to feel the texture or depression that indicated an opening. After she finished, everyone was eager to know the outcome.

“My darlings, it looks like we were materialized on these recliners. There is no way we could have gone through these walls without opening a hole.” Said Mrs. Romano.

“I wish you were my granny, granny,” said Stephan.

“Peter, you’ve been quiet,” said Angela.

“Yes, sorry. I’ve been enjoying my body. Normal heartbeat, no nausea nor weakness. Maybe we are dead, waiting to go to the next stage, whatever that is.”

“Is that so? I wasn’t expecting to have to pee in heaven, or performing any other bodily function. A dead person shouldn’t be here, this is more like an intermedium station for people who are not ready to die, but I was ready for death to visit me. Therefore we are alive, otherwise, we wouldn't be talking,” said Mrs. Romano.

“This is no heaven, as I don’t believe in heaven or hell, but I’d rather be here than desperate to feel better,” said Peter.

“I still think this is a dream, and we’ll be back to normal when we wake up for real,” said Sabin.

“You might be right, little one, but none of us is certain. What I’m sure about is that I need to release some golden liquid, my bladder is asking for mercy. Hence, I’m going to do something nasty and I need someone to help me because I can’t squat. Angela?” said Mrs. Romano.

“Oh, really?... please don’t wet my shoes, dear granny.”

“Don’t worry, my darling. I won’t… Everybody else, please don’t look.”

The floor was zero degrees flat, with no place to drain anything. Peter and Stephan expressed their worries about the odor they would bear afterward, but the granny had to go.

The two women went to a corner of the room, behind the recliners. Underwear down, Angela holding granny, granny holding the skirt out of the way, and so the crouching tigress was ready to feel relief…

Nothing was flowing.

“Granny, are you done yet?” asked Angela.

“Apparently, it was a false alarm.”

“Are you sure?”

“I think so. Please, pull me up.” Mrs. Romano rearranged her clothes and thanked Angela.

The lights flickered. Darkness. The regular brightness returned to the room. This time, everyone was awake when the remaining chair was occupied.

“Good day! I hope you are having a blast because we are,” said the new member of the group.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear your name,” said Angela.

“I haven’t introduced myself yet. You can call me Carrie.”

“Why didn’t we fall asleep this time? You seem to know where you are,” said Stephan.

“You are right. I know where we are.”

“Do you? Would you mind telling us?” asked Angela.

“Let’s start with the basics… you don’t exist.”

“If we don’t, how come you are talking to us? You must be delusional,” said Angela.

“Ok, I was not accurate. You exist in a virtual dimension inside an artificial intelligence simulator. Our company randomly selected copies of consciousness, including memories, from real people, but only a segment. It was taken while you were waiting for some reason. My presence is not a manifestation of myself, but my self. I’m online at this very moment, connected to my digital image within this environment.”

“Let's say I believe you. Why would you need to appear and tell us this? What’s the point?” asked Peter.

“Yes, my darling, aren’t you spoiling your experiment?” said Mrs. Romano.

“Not really. This has been one of the multiple iterations we’ve done with you, with all of you.”

“Even me?” asked Sabin.

“All of you, includes you, girl,” said Carrie.

“I have no recollection of this place before today,” said Stephan.

“I think I know what’s happening. You, Carrie, are the only one who is not here for the first time and you are taking advantage of that to prank us. That must be the reason why you appeared already awake. Whoever is behind this didn't need to put us to sleep for you, or something like that. Please, tell us what's next,” said Angela.

Carrie remained silent for a few seconds, pondering what to say. The five others were staring at her, waiting, and then she replied with a big smile on her face.

“Yeah, you got me. Don’t worry, you are going back home after a few hours. We are being observed to study our interactions while waiting for the unknown; how this overrides our previous concerns at the moment when they took us, and how we deal with obstacles.”

“Let’s assume you are telling the truth… Are they going to starve us? If we remain in this room for hours, we will get hungry and thirsty, eventually. Also, whatever comes in goes out, and I almost left something of my own a moment ago. What about covering the base of the pyramid of needs?” said Mrs. Romano with her arms crossed.

“Don’t worry about that. We won’t feel hunger or thirst.”

“How is that possible? Are we under some medication?” asked Peter.

“Something like that, but don’t worry. There are no negative side effects.”

“You are not answering what to do with number one and number two,” said Sabin while kicking the air with her short legs.

The lights turned off. 

“What now?” said Stephan.

A few minutes later, the lights were back on, and Carrie was gone.

Meanwhile in the observation room…

“You see; they never believe me. I thought that maybe on this farewell occasion they would,” said Carrie disappointed.

“I’ll try next time on your behalf, once you are gone. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot. Congratulations on your promotion!” said the workmate.

“Thank you. I’ll do my best for the marketing department to promote this simulator and other projects. You have the last rounds of testing in your hands, take good care of my baby.”

 “I will. Don’t worry. Let’s finish this simulation for today and then we leave another running.”

“Agreed. They must be confused right now, I let out more information than usual.”

“Well, in the end, the machine will learn more, that’s a good thing. Would you like me to change the order?”

“Leave the first two the same and permutate the others,” said Carrie.

 After the ongoing simulation ended, they reset and left…

“Hey, who are you? What is this place?”

“Hi. I’m Stephan. I’m not sure…”