This was inspired by "Shutdown", when I suddenly had an idea. This idea formed into a story... half finished story, that I'm hoping to re-write and improve on.
Here goes something.
What if the world you lived in, wasn't real? What if, everything was nothing but bits, bytes, and more? What if there was an entire universe in a computer?
This world was real. I know, I created it as an experiment. It worked, very well I might add. But it all started, after one experiment was shut down...
A woman, who had bright orange curly hair and wore a carrot charm around her neck, was named Carol. Carol sat up as she adjusted her eyesight to her new settings, waking up from a digital dream, of a sort. She sighed as she looked at her friends. Pete got up, rubbing his eyes, then looked at Carol. “Want me to wake up the others, Carrot-I mean, Carol?”
She said nothing, but nodded in agreement. The others started getting up from their virtual chairs, waking up from a sad dream.
Pete was dressed in a mint-green vest, with a long sleeved shirt. He had a large patch of hair on his chin, and also had glasses on his face to see. The only thing that did make it on to his Avatar was a bright color of brown on his dark brown hair, almost white-ish.
As he woke up Mary and the others, they suddenly heard a knock on the door.
Carol looked at Pete, then looked back at the door in fear. “C-come in.” she said. The door opened to reveal, not the police or some kind of lawyer, but a kid they dreaded since the near beginning. He was dressed in a red Hawaiian shirt over his dark blue long sleeved shirt. He had a mood ring on his ring finger (although he claimed that it was stuck to his hand), and on his left wrist was a weird analogue backwards watch.
Carol looked at him with great distaste, then said, “What are you doing here James? Come to apologize for something you did?” James looked at Carol, tilting his head like a puppy would if he was confused, . “Carol, why do you think that I had anything to do with this? I have seen that you guys are great at what you’re doing, which is creating the most advance AI ever made.” He then walked inside and sat down on the chairs. “I know what you guys are thinking. Here comes James, the kid who has dumb ideas and thinks that we’re his friends. Hey! Let’s all pretend that someone we know sits in a spot that we don’t want him to sit.” He said, getting more upset.
Carol looks at her friends, who were sitting there, staring at James, who was known for being the local goofball at the California University. “Look, I know that you see me as some nuisance or some kind of new guy with dreams that would crush me. But I know that this,” he said, pointing at the equipment they were using, “is really hard to do.”
He then added with a smile, “I also know how to save your project from being completely wiped by the lawyers hanging over your head.” This caused Carol (who was Carrot Top in the program), Pete (who was Lyra Heartstrings in the program as well), Mary (who was Bon-Bon), Rachel (who was Berry Punch), and Michelle (who was Octavia) all looked at him as if he was crazy.
“How?” she finally asked. James smiled wider, then said, “Alright, I have a Uncle named John Law who wanted to take this case, considering what happened… and they dropped the charges, especially when I wrote to a friend, who knows a friend, who knows Lauren Faust.” Carol and the rest of the team looked at him in surprise.
“The dean agreed to let us access the program, only if you work for my project.” He said. Carol knew where this was going, and didn’t like it. “No. No, no no. Why did you say that?” she asked. James looked at her, then said, “Because, while you were working on this for three months, mine was taking five months to complete a working system, with the Dean’s permission, and some help from some friends of mine from a construction event, years ago.” James smiled as he remembered his construction friends from long ago, at least when he was working on a construction site before he came to the University.
“He also said that I could keep the program if you guys agree to come work for me. 'Only if they agree to it,' he said. No lie, he actually said that." Carol looked at the group that she had formed, then said, "Does it work?"
He motioned for them to follow him. They all looked at each other, then shrugged at the thought of following the weirdo. As they went down the hallway, James decided to tell them of what happened.
Life is unusual, let me tell you. About some time ago, I walked into the Dean’s office to talk to him about an idea for a new type of simulator that possibly could be built here at the campus.
He looked at my blueprints for the idea, then said, “Alright, as long as it doesn’t blow our school budget.” I nodded and we shook on it.
For the next three and a half months, I started programming the basis for a universe inside of a digital relm. I started working on trying to work out calculations for every possible thing, feeding on nothing but soda, water, and whatever food was at the vending machines.
For the next two months, my friends and I, with nothing but building supplies from Home Depot, created an extra floor with wiring, and several other items that somehow made a 13th floor.
Finally, for the project to work, I didn’t want any interuptions, so I wired the elevator to appear broken down, and to only work with my key.
I thought that my project was going to work, and it did. But, by the time that I finished working on the project, the five of you were getting kicked out for a unauthorized project. So, I convinced the Dean to let you guys onto my team, which with some convincing data, agreed.
The elevator dinged, opening the doors. "Oh, by the way, I do plan on giving all of you keys… if you’re planning on working for me." He said. The four of them soon realized that they were in the server room, where all the servers were working hard. "I know what you're all thinking, but this isn't where we're working." he said. He then motioned for them to follow him again, leading them to a room with one glass door and plexiglass as the wall between the project, and the servers.
Inside was four servers sitting between four poles in the middle of the room. There were cords connecting to three computers near the right side of the room, with seven monitors. On the far end of the room was the elevator. "That elevator works... only for us though." he said. He then gave them keycards, then said, "These allow you access the elevator on any floor, and only you. I didn't tell everyone that the elevator worked, so I hope you're smart enough not to tell others as well." he said. He jumped onto the swivel chair, and started typing in code. Then a few minutes later he got up and walked towards the elevator doors. He pressed the up button.
There was a ding, and the elevator doors opened, allowing the strange student, and his friends to enter the elevator cabin. James pressed the button, marked "13" on it, then waited. The elevator moved, then stopped suddenly. Soon, there was a green laser that scanned the five new helpers. Soon, a screen appeared in mid-air, showing the scan in front of them. Soon, it recognized them, their names, and mentioning their names, and nicknames.
"Prepare to upgrade from a simulacron to a matrix in a holodeck." James said, as the screen faded away, and the elevator dinged. Then, the doors opened, revealing a relatively moderate sized room with yellowish lines across the black room. "This is what it looks like when it's off." he said. She looked around, seeing that it definitely looked like what he described as a holodeck. "So, where's Captain Kirk?" Carrot said. James chuckled, then said, "Wrong version of the series. That's the Original Series, anyways."
"Computer: Activate Simulation Zero" he said.The four of them looked at each other in confusion. Michelle soon realized that the elevator was missing and pointed it out to the others. Suddenly, the lines in the room started to glow, then the entire room seemed to just expand. Soon, green lines filled the floor, shaping them into what was needed. They soon shaped a road, sidewalks, lamps, then soon, buildings. Small ones that seemed unfinished, but buildings that were able to possibly support humans.
James smiled as he saw the shocked faces of the four. James then walked over to a store behind them, then he grabbed an apple. "Think fast!" he said to Pete, tossing the apple. Pete's reflexes kicked in, and he grabbed the apple in mid-air. His brain then told him that what he was holding was impossible. He suddenly dropped the apple, only for it to stop in mid-air. James grabbed the apple, then tossed it to Carrot, who caught it. She looked at it, seeing on one side the apple and the texture of the apple skin. One the other side was a green wireframe that built the apple. It was subtle on the transference between the two, as she spun the apple around.
James smiled, then said, "Computer: Activate Simulation from file Derpyville.” Soon, the virtual town started to fade and got replaced by dense jungle on either side, and a dirt path. It soon led down to Ponyville. The spacy sky soon got replaced by a blue sky with no moon (for it was on the other side of Equestria) and the place looked like before they closed it down.
"Welcome back to Equestria." he said, as they all had shocked looks on their faces.
Thus the project began, all on...
The 13th Floor
Fimfiction.net Productions Presents
A TimeTravelinc. Film
Author's Note
Consider this a special project I've planned on working on. This will be a interesting project as I am still working on my Scientist of the Bermuda Triangle in Equestria story.
Review and enjoy.
Update: Someone pointed out that this story was sloppy and the character James, was a Mary Sue. So, I'm fixing it.
-The Character
