A shrill cry echoed in the mist as I continued to run in any viable way I could, I had no idea how I got there. The last thing I remember was going downstairs to get some water after debugging my 100-line code, I was picking up a glass and then I noticed a continuous thud from the garage. I tried to ignore it until I saw a shadow of something, something big. The moment I saw that I went running and screaming upstairs to call my parents and I noticed something odd, I was not reaching the first floor. The mat beneath my foot started to turn moist and tipped, it was grass. How did my stairs convert into grass? Soon I was covered in all this fog and freezing air making my teeth chatter. A ray of light, blue light, flashed in my eyes bringing me back to my senses, and the next thing I see is this podium. The fog started to clear; I noticed I was covered in big bushes with a podium in the center of it. Is this a dream? But I feel cold, please tell me this is not real. I move on to the podium, no trace of that thing, a relief. I take a deep breath and move on, there is a screen on the podium, and it is playing some code, some algorithm, it looked like a binary search algorithm. It was not the time to analyze that code, I just wanted to go home. Some sound, a dull weak sound echoed in the air, it was the windows XP startup sound. The bushes start to move and create a path as if it wants me to go there. I have no other options, so I just take a leap of faith and move into that grim path.
As I took my first few steps anxiously, there was a sudden bang echoing from where I was. The path behind me had closed, but that was not the cause. Could it have been the shadow? Had it found me? There was no time to think. I picked up the pace only to find myself at a crossroad. Left, or right? As I contemplate this, the sound of rustling leaves begins to emerge gradually becoming louder and louder. I did not see any trees; I feel my heartbeat rising as I turn around to see what it was only to find the trail behind me closing. Whatever I choose I must choose fast. I went left, with doubts filling my head that I should have gone right, I sprint, till I reached a dead end. This is it. This is the end. This is how I die. I close my eyes waiting for it to hit me, wishing this were all a dream, hoping I would wake up and be in my bed again. But I did not. I open my eyes to find myself in the same position with the path stopped in front of me before it shifted back the way it came. I released a breath I did not know I was holding. I look around and I see two other paths alike actively moving. What is this? A maze? How did I end up here? I was supposed to be grabbing water and going back to my room, not running for my life from some shadow or bush. I see a glimpse of light through one of the paths. That must be the way. I make a run for it before the bushes could close the path and engulfed me, (if I were being honest, I had no idea what would happen, but I was not willing to take that risk).
I did not have much time to think about it and thought it was okay to take the risk. That is when I went forward with hope. I started moving my steps quickly on the road where my ray of hope was coming from. There was restlessness in my heart and there was a lot of fear, but I still did not stop myself in the hope of getting out. My brain froze. I was going insane. I did not even know what to do but I kept moving. The fog started to clear up, I saw an old man standing in front who had some instruments that I had never seen before. His eyes lit up when he saw me. I went to the old man to talk to him and ask for help. I started walking towards the man. As soon as I reached there, the man asked me how long I have been there, I explained to him all the things that happened to me. He said that you are in the control, and not just you, but the entire world is trapped in the maze it creates, who creates? In who’s control? I have been searching for it and I have not found a way to get out from it yet, the paths just keep on changing, keep changing with each movement I make. Both of us started moving forward, I was completely hopeful and soon there was a ringing like an alarm. Within a few moments, the sound started to progressively become louder and louder, as the sound was growing so was my heartbeat. The creature was following us. My heartbeat became extremely fast. As soon as I saw a big trench, I stopped. The creature was close to me. I felt a chill across my back, it was a big shadow, a shadow of myself. There was no sound, everything was still, I did not know how to respond. Everything now seemed blurry, I was losing balance, my legs were numb. I am falling. The last thing I see is the shadow looking down on me and behind that is the old man.
My eyes snap open, I am covered in cold sweat, shaking, it was a dream, I noticed my window open. A sense of relief struck me as I realised that it was just a dream. But it seemed too real for my subconscious mind. So, I decided to do more research, more observations about it. Is it just my mind making this up or are we really living in a simulation. Reality is anything we perceive using one or more of the five senses. But what if it is all just a program or a code to make us do as we are told. I thought of few common reasons. For example, the Mandela effect. It is a situation in which a large amount of people believes that something happened when it did not. Or what if we were made to forget it? This proves that whoever oversees the simulation is changing our past. Another example would be déjà vu. When we feel like something has already happened, but it did not, it could be possible for an alternative reality to exist. Human technology is evolving at such high rate that far in the future we might be able to create our own world with robots where we just observe them growing and learning on their own. With all these questions in my mind I take a sip of coffee and get back to the code.