I’m about to make the biggest decision any human being has ever made. It’s the kind of decision that must be thought through, with all things considered. Perhaps the answer lies within a great deal of reminiscence.

It began when I went to bed one night. It may have been last night, or it may have been last week. I am without any sense of time here. I dreamt of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. I traveled though them just as Dante did. Then I woke up. I wasn’t in my bed. I was in a bed. A room. The walls were made of milky quartz. The bed was just as white as the walls. It was hard to distinguish between the two. Then my attire. Loose white silk. It had been a matter of seconds before I realized there were wires in my head. Like everything else, white. I took my time pulling them out. They were in my head, so I felt the need to be cautious. As I rose to leave the small room, I noticed that it wasn’t my body which felt refreshed from sleep, but my mind. Out side the room, I found a seemingly endless hall of the same milky quartz. There was door after door, entrances to rooms just like mine. I found people dressed just like me, sleeping with cords in their heads. When I discovered this, I cannot say I was fearful. I was just curious. As I walked the hall, I heard a man screaming words I could not quite make out. It was in one of the rooms.

I quietly steeped near the doorway when I saw a man shaking a sleeper, screaming at her to wake up. He had undone her cords already, but with no ultimate success. I wanted to say something, but I wasn’t certain about which word I should being with. I stood in the doorway until he noticed me. He jumped, startled. Then I saw the look of relief. It was the most relief I have ever seen in the eyes of a man. “I’m Harold,” he said to me.

“Will,” I replied.

“How long have you been here,” he asked.

“I just woke up, I-”

“Then you’re more fortunate than I am,” he interrupted. “I’ve been here for what seems to be about a month now.”

“Where can I find food,” I asked. I knew I was being a little to the point, but I felt that I was going to be here for a while. The only answer that came to my mind was to eat the sleeping. That’s the answer I was afraid of. It’s the one I expected.

“I haven’t grown hungry, thirsty, or tired since I woke up. Just lonely. That’s why I was acting like a maniac a moment ago.”

It must have been true. He seemed to have been holding back much excitement. “Do you know where we are,” I asked.

“No. I was at a higher elevation before, and I could see those lower halls. There are so many. In the center hall, this one, I saw a powerfully bright light colored red. I’ve been following the direction for weeks. I have no idea how close or far it is, but I hope to get answers there. It’s the only thing to do.”

“I’ll come along”

“I know,” he replied. “What else is there, but the hope of finding something to help us understand?” We began walking. After a while, we began talking.

“So,” I asked. “Do you know how we got here?”

“I’m not sure. I am sure that what you asked is the wrong question. Look at how many people are here. Do you really think we’ve been ‘put here?’ No everyone in the whole damn world is here. Maybe more.” He seemed frustrated and annoyed, so I decided to be quiet. I suppose his stress is understandable. But still, something about him told me he wasn’t exactly the most social type. He-” The thought was interrupted by a startling sound.

The floor behind us was disappearing. The walls remained, and we saw that we were on one of many levels. As far as we could see, there were lower levels. The lack of floor was catching up with us. We glanced at each other, as if we came to the same understanding immediately. Then we ran. Harold began to slowly fall behind. I was too afraid for my life to slow down for him. When the floor ceased to disappear, we slowly came to a stop. We both stood there, in wonder. I imagine he was wondering what was happening. Not me. I just wanted to know why I wasn’t out of breath. It was so weird for me. Howard began walking toward me. That’s when the floor below me disappeared. Controlled by reaction, he was quick to grab my hand. He scraped his arm on the edge a few times as he pulled me up. His blood trickled down his arm onto mine. By the time I was on the floor again, I stared at what was left. I was lost in the kind of thought one can only think when he just had a near death experience. The rest of the floor returned. It was a little while before I noticed. I asked him if he was okay. He wasn’t as terribly cut as it seemed. I didn’t know what to say when we began walking. I stared at the ground, wondering. Then it finally came to me. Those simple words. “Thank you,” I said. But when I looked up, he wasn’t there. The floor behind us disappeared, silently this time. I saw a small form falling in the distance, as small as a bug. Harold. The floor began disappearing again before I had time to mourn him. I ran. I was always a fast runner.

What seemed like a few hours of running passed until I found a turn. I took it without hesitation. The floor remained solid here. All at once, sound emerged. The indescribable sound of the floor disappearing. Worse, the sound of Harold screaming. All at once, it hit me in a wave. I felt my body grow cold from the sound. My heart seemed to sink to my stomach. Then I realized where I was. The red light. Our destination.

At the center, I saw what looked like a fetus. Perhaps two-hundred pounds. Horns stuck out of various parts of its body, curling up and looking like bizarre infections. White wires were attached to its head. Suddenly, it became clear. Everyone in the world was plugged into this thing. He dominates our sensory perceptions.

In the end, all we have is our own mind. We can trust nothing else, especially our eyes. But we depend on our sense so much in our thinking. Our lives. They are everything to us. Yet who’s to say he is not responsible for delusional concepts like logic? We are helpless. Hopeless.

So here I stand in contemplation, wondering if it is best to kill this demon or to let it live. What would be best for human kind in the long run? As I think and think, I find myself lost, wondering if this is a dream. If I am to wake in my bed, speculating this curious dream, then forget about it. Just another night.