Reality Shift
Isaac left the room, and started walking down the hallway, glancing at the nameplate by each door. He walked with his head held high, pretending that he was walking with purpose, as if he was supposed to be here. In reality, he had no idea where he was, let alone how valuable of an employee Trent was to this place. Still, no one was raising their eyebrows as he walked by, so he must be important enough that no one questioned it. Or maybe he was so unimportant that no one even cared what he looked like.
"I like the first one better," he muttered to himself.
Eventually, Isaac found the office that belonged to Al. Or, at least, he hoped. The nameplate read Alistair, but the door was cracked open, and the person behind the desk wasn't moving. Isaac shut the door behind him, and walked over to the body. The guy was pretty old; granted, he wasn't ancient looking, but he was bald, and he wore the signs of age poorly. If nothing else, he was definitely near retirement age. Isaac hesitantly extended his hand, and poked the guy's face. His head lolled downward, and, unbalanced, the whole body slumped forward. Isaac jumped back in shock as the body hit the desk. There was no doubt that the body was empty.
Convinced that he was alone in the room, Isaac began to examine the room more closely. To his surprise, the monitor in the room was displaying the same pod room, just like that last one had. Even more surprising, there was someone else in there. It looked exactly like his current body- was that Trent? Isaac watched the chat bar as the two of them began to talk.
"Finally, I... who are you?" asked Trent. "The server's still offline. How'd you get here?"
"I'm not from this server," answered Vince. "The failsafes sent me here. I should ask you the same question."
"I'm a programmer," he answered. "I have privleges to go anywhere. I'm supposed to use this pod to get back to my body. Would you like to tell me why it's not a transfer option?"
"Oh, uhh..." said Vince, rubbing the back of his neck, "I think my friend might have accidentally, umm..."
"How do you accidentally upload yourself into something that is clearly not a server, let alone a valid destination?" asked Trent, getting angry.
"Good question," said a third. "I hope you entered the wrong pod room by mistake, Alistair."
"I like the first one better," he muttered to himself.
Eventually, Isaac found the office that belonged to Al. Or, at least, he hoped. The nameplate read Alistair, but the door was cracked open, and the person behind the desk wasn't moving. Isaac shut the door behind him, and walked over to the body. The guy was pretty old; granted, he wasn't ancient looking, but he was bald, and he wore the signs of age poorly. If nothing else, he was definitely near retirement age. Isaac hesitantly extended his hand, and poked the guy's face. His head lolled downward, and, unbalanced, the whole body slumped forward. Isaac jumped back in shock as the body hit the desk. There was no doubt that the body was empty.
Convinced that he was alone in the room, Isaac began to examine the room more closely. To his surprise, the monitor in the room was displaying the same pod room, just like that last one had. Even more surprising, there was someone else in there. It looked exactly like his current body- was that Trent? Isaac watched the chat bar as the two of them began to talk.
"Finally, I... who are you?" asked Trent. "The server's still offline. How'd you get here?"
"I'm not from this server," answered Vince. "The failsafes sent me here. I should ask you the same question."
"I'm a programmer," he answered. "I have privleges to go anywhere. I'm supposed to use this pod to get back to my body. Would you like to tell me why it's not a transfer option?"
"Oh, uhh..." said Vince, rubbing the back of his neck, "I think my friend might have accidentally, umm..."
"How do you accidentally upload yourself into something that is clearly not a server, let alone a valid destination?" asked Trent, getting angry.
"Good question," said a third. "I hope you entered the wrong pod room by mistake, Alistair."