A TECHNOLOGY ERA TAKE ON OCULUS
SHORT STORY
“Final bid at $560,000!”
Knock!
“At $560,000, the Glasser System belongs to this gentleman Alan Russell,” said the auctioneer.
Alan, a father of a beautiful family with two kids, had planned to take the technology system into his possession since he had first seen it advertised two months ago. The Glasser System was a one-and-only of its kind since it was new technology. Alan wanted to buy this in order to satisfy his family as he was always busy managing his business and hardly ever spent time with his kids.
The following week, the Company sent engineers to the Russells’ apartment to install the system. Took them a little while to get to. The apartment was on the top floor of the tallest apartment building in New York. Alan worked his arse off to afford the luxuries for his family to compensate for his absence, even though he was working from home. Marie, Alan’s wife, watched while the engineers were setting up everything. It was a three-day job. The Glasser System was integrated into every piece of technology in the house. From the lights to the TV, to the security system, everything was under one control system.
While the kids, Kaylie and Tim, were away at a boarding school, Alan and Marie were testing out the newly bought Glasser System and experimenting with its features. Alan made sure the security system was operating as it should be. Marie proceeded to try the new virtual reality gaming system that the kids were so excited about. It was interactively responsive, she could actually feel being punched in the stomach, but at a softer level. It was so much fun she forgot time and only stopped when Alan asked if she had checked the interface controlling the everything in the kitchen. She believed the gaming system was perfect for the kids. Marie, however, kept feeling like somebody was tapping her shoulder every other minute but thought she might have put on the interactive vest incorrectly.
They both seemed to be very satisfied with the Glasser System and were hoping to see how Kaylie and Tim would react to it. The system was their early Christmas present.
Two weeks passed and it was time for the kids’ winter break. They were ecstatic to come home and experience what they’ve seen from the advertisement Alan had shown them before. The System seemed to be working better than expectations and Alan was very pleased.
Kaylie and Tim got sucked into the gaming system and spent their whole first night of break playing. The kids only decided to go to bed when they were exhausted from playing and Marie also did right after. Alan grabbed a cup of water to quench his thirst and continue working but felt a sudden urge to sleep after drinking it. He seemed to be knocked out by something in his drink. Alan threw himself on the bed with Marie already asleep next to him.
In the middle of the night,
Tic... toc… tic... toc…
The Russells were all in deep sleep.
Knock knock…
A sudden door knocking sound woke Marie up. Her husband, however, was still like a dead body. She looked over to the camera feed in the kids’ room, both in bed. “Strange,” she thought. Marie proceeded to check the security system status. All the lights were green. Everything was still locked as they should be. She fell back asleep in seconds, only to be startled by the feeling of being tapped on the shoulder five minutes later. It felt like the shoulder tapping she had experienced from trying out the virtual reality gaming system. She quickly sat straight up and looked around. Nobody. Alan was the same as five minutes earlier, still like a dead body. Marie had a tiny panic moment. Upon seeing everything was fine, she calmed herself and fell back asleep.
An hour before sunrise, Marie was woken up one more time, this time to a sound of whispering. Again, nobody else other than Alan, who was dead asleep, was in the room. “Must be a dream,” she thought to herself. She decided to start her day early and got out of bed. When Alan woke up, Marie wasn’t home anymore.
“Where are you?” Alan texted.
“At the grocery store. Do you want anything?”.
“How about chewing gum.”
“Okay!”
When Marie got home, Kaylie and Tim were already up and playing video games.
“Sorry honey I forgot the gum!” She texted Alan to notify him, although they were only one door and five steps away. Alan had demanded his family not to come into his office when he was working. Marie always took the demand really seriously as she had been yelled at several times for bringing her husband food.
Alan typed “that’s okay” and turned his phone’s screen off without checking if it was delivered. The text took an unusually long time to reach Marie’s phone. “That’s dumb.” She read from her phone.
Marie barged into the office with her face as red as a fire hydrant, ready to burst. “What the hell does that supposed to mean?” Marie was usually very calm but would turn into an erupting volcano if she was ever upset. The disrupted sleep made her anger even worse.
“What do you mean?” Alan answered in a monotone and did not even care enough to look over to her. He was trying to concentrate on work. That made Marie went from boiling water to lava. She was already angry and yet Alan decided to snub her.
Marie raised her voice higher: “What else? I’m SO DUMB you’re ignoring me now huh? Oh, I see how it is.” She slammed the door open with a bang and left.
“What was that for?” Alan thought to himself. It was frustrating for being disrupted and yelled at but he continued working anyway.
Later in the day, Alan was having lunch when he heard a notification sound from his phone.
“Hi there handsome.” The text came along with a rather revealing photo of a young woman in her twenties. It was from an unknown phone number. Alan replied telling the person it was the wrong number they were texting.
“I know who I’m texting honey <3.” Ping! “I saw you winning the Glasser System at the auction and found your number online.” Ping! Alan checked his phone after hearing the notification sounds but was hesitant to text back.
“Don’t you wanna see more?” The person texted again. Frustrated at Marie from earlier, Alan thought, “why the hell not?”
“How?” He replied.
“Equivalent exchange.”
Again, Alan hesitated. This would be a great risk to his already disconnected family relationships. He thought to himself, “a little wouldn’t hurt, would it. Plus, Marie wouldn’t know if I don’t let her.” He proceeded to send this mysterious woman exactly what she asked for.
Ping!
Alan’s flirty photo has somehow ended up in Marie’s phone. A mistake? He wasn’t the kind of person to do these things. She knew something was up. The timing didn’t make anything better, Marie was already mad at him that morning. However, she decided not to confront him about it and wait until midnight to take his phone to see things herself.
She saw what she couldn’t believe herself. She wanted to cry, to scream at the top of her lungs at her husband who she had trusted so much in so many years. She tried to fall asleep to forget about it but laid awake until almost sunrise wandering in her thoughts. All of this happened while Alan was dead asleep unaware of what Marie had discovered.
When the kids woke up, they saw Marie was playing with the virtual reality gaming system. Maybe she needed to find a distraction. She was really into the game. Kaylie couldn’t get Marie’s attention when she needed help for her homework. Marie was playing a fighting game, which was designed by the Company and came exclusively with the Glasser System. She was trying to release her anger by punching virtual characters.
Marie lost all track of time. Took her hours to reach the final round of the game. The last challenge: she had to fight her kids, well, in the game... at least that’s what she believed. She hesitated but kept going. “This is only a game,” she thought, “it would be a waste of time if I give up now.” Marie started taking swings, back and forth.
“AAAAH! MOM! STOP!” Kaylie screamed at the top of her voice.
“DAAAD! HELP US! MOM’S OUTTA HER MIND!” Tim tried to call to Alan for help.
This all seemed too real but Marie kept on fighting the kids. “It’s just a game let’s finish this”. This thought was looping in her head. When Alan arrived, Marie was punching the kids with no sign of stopping. She wasn’t wearing any virtual reality headset. Alan pushed her off and pull the kids behind him. “Wow! Perfect! Alan’s in the game too. Revenge?” She jumped at him and then hit even harder. Any words or warnings Alan said were ignored. Who would reply to characters in games anyway?
The situation only de-escalated when Alan managed to tie her to their bed. She was, then, totally out of her mind. The kids were extremely frightened. It’s not common that a mother would try to beat her kids to death. Alan decided to lock Kaylie and Tim in their room while he dealt with her. He attempted to feed her but she wouldn’t eat.
The following day, Alan acted as nothing had happened. The kids, however, were worried and sneaked in their parents’ room to see Marie with their own eyes. She was in terrible conditions, dehydrated and starving. They tried to call for a doctor but all the calls were blocked. After several failed attempts, they decided to try to ask a neighbor for help but the doors were locked before they could do anything.
Alan did everything to keep his kids from telling anyone using the security system. His reputation was too important for this situation to be known outside the apartment. This business he built took him years of failing and trying so he would do anything in order to keep it from falling apart.
Kaylie and Tim discussed all the ways that they could try and help their mother. They ended up scrapping every idea and kept trying to think of new ways. They didn’t give up and fell asleep late at night.
Alan woke up the next morning and couldn’t find Marie tied to the bed anymore. There was no sign of her. He panicked. What could have happened? He went to check on the kids. Nowhere either. Nothing showed up in the camera feed and all the footage last night was somehow deleted. He had no idea where anyone was or what was going to come next.
Over 2,000 miles away, in the Silicon Valley, “all is going according to plan.” All this time, the Company had control over the Glasser System but the Russells had no idea. There was no “young woman” texting with Alan. There was no fighting game, only a manipulative software designed to control people. The interactive vest of the gaming system was only there to induce physical hallucinations to drive Marie crazy. Anything in and out of the apartment on top of New York was controlled by the Company. Every movement and sound inside the apartment was monitored and recorded through hidden cameras and 3D scanners hidden inside the electronics.
The Russell family was only the beginning.
Knock!
“At $560,000, the Glasser System belongs to this gentleman Alan Russell,” said the auctioneer.
Alan, a father of a beautiful family with two kids, had planned to take the technology system into his possession since he had first seen it advertised two months ago. The Glasser System was a one-and-only of its kind since it was new technology. Alan wanted to buy this in order to satisfy his family as he was always busy managing his business and hardly ever spent time with his kids.
The following week, the Company sent engineers to the Russells’ apartment to install the system. Took them a little while to get to. The apartment was on the top floor of the tallest apartment building in New York. Alan worked his arse off to afford the luxuries for his family to compensate for his absence, even though he was working from home. Marie, Alan’s wife, watched while the engineers were setting up everything. It was a three-day job. The Glasser System was integrated into every piece of technology in the house. From the lights to the TV, to the security system, everything was under one control system.
While the kids, Kaylie and Tim, were away at a boarding school, Alan and Marie were testing out the newly bought Glasser System and experimenting with its features. Alan made sure the security system was operating as it should be. Marie proceeded to try the new virtual reality gaming system that the kids were so excited about. It was interactively responsive, she could actually feel being punched in the stomach, but at a softer level. It was so much fun she forgot time and only stopped when Alan asked if she had checked the interface controlling the everything in the kitchen. She believed the gaming system was perfect for the kids. Marie, however, kept feeling like somebody was tapping her shoulder every other minute but thought she might have put on the interactive vest incorrectly.
They both seemed to be very satisfied with the Glasser System and were hoping to see how Kaylie and Tim would react to it. The system was their early Christmas present.
Two weeks passed and it was time for the kids’ winter break. They were ecstatic to come home and experience what they’ve seen from the advertisement Alan had shown them before. The System seemed to be working better than expectations and Alan was very pleased.
Kaylie and Tim got sucked into the gaming system and spent their whole first night of break playing. The kids only decided to go to bed when they were exhausted from playing and Marie also did right after. Alan grabbed a cup of water to quench his thirst and continue working but felt a sudden urge to sleep after drinking it. He seemed to be knocked out by something in his drink. Alan threw himself on the bed with Marie already asleep next to him.
In the middle of the night,
Tic... toc… tic... toc…
The Russells were all in deep sleep.
Knock knock…
A sudden door knocking sound woke Marie up. Her husband, however, was still like a dead body. She looked over to the camera feed in the kids’ room, both in bed. “Strange,” she thought. Marie proceeded to check the security system status. All the lights were green. Everything was still locked as they should be. She fell back asleep in seconds, only to be startled by the feeling of being tapped on the shoulder five minutes later. It felt like the shoulder tapping she had experienced from trying out the virtual reality gaming system. She quickly sat straight up and looked around. Nobody. Alan was the same as five minutes earlier, still like a dead body. Marie had a tiny panic moment. Upon seeing everything was fine, she calmed herself and fell back asleep.
An hour before sunrise, Marie was woken up one more time, this time to a sound of whispering. Again, nobody else other than Alan, who was dead asleep, was in the room. “Must be a dream,” she thought to herself. She decided to start her day early and got out of bed. When Alan woke up, Marie wasn’t home anymore.
“Where are you?” Alan texted.
“At the grocery store. Do you want anything?”.
“How about chewing gum.”
“Okay!”
When Marie got home, Kaylie and Tim were already up and playing video games.
“Sorry honey I forgot the gum!” She texted Alan to notify him, although they were only one door and five steps away. Alan had demanded his family not to come into his office when he was working. Marie always took the demand really seriously as she had been yelled at several times for bringing her husband food.
Alan typed “that’s okay” and turned his phone’s screen off without checking if it was delivered. The text took an unusually long time to reach Marie’s phone. “That’s dumb.” She read from her phone.
Marie barged into the office with her face as red as a fire hydrant, ready to burst. “What the hell does that supposed to mean?” Marie was usually very calm but would turn into an erupting volcano if she was ever upset. The disrupted sleep made her anger even worse.
“What do you mean?” Alan answered in a monotone and did not even care enough to look over to her. He was trying to concentrate on work. That made Marie went from boiling water to lava. She was already angry and yet Alan decided to snub her.
Marie raised her voice higher: “What else? I’m SO DUMB you’re ignoring me now huh? Oh, I see how it is.” She slammed the door open with a bang and left.
“What was that for?” Alan thought to himself. It was frustrating for being disrupted and yelled at but he continued working anyway.
Later in the day, Alan was having lunch when he heard a notification sound from his phone.
“Hi there handsome.” The text came along with a rather revealing photo of a young woman in her twenties. It was from an unknown phone number. Alan replied telling the person it was the wrong number they were texting.
“I know who I’m texting honey <3.” Ping! “I saw you winning the Glasser System at the auction and found your number online.” Ping! Alan checked his phone after hearing the notification sounds but was hesitant to text back.
“Don’t you wanna see more?” The person texted again. Frustrated at Marie from earlier, Alan thought, “why the hell not?”
“How?” He replied.
“Equivalent exchange.”
Again, Alan hesitated. This would be a great risk to his already disconnected family relationships. He thought to himself, “a little wouldn’t hurt, would it. Plus, Marie wouldn’t know if I don’t let her.” He proceeded to send this mysterious woman exactly what she asked for.
Ping!
Alan’s flirty photo has somehow ended up in Marie’s phone. A mistake? He wasn’t the kind of person to do these things. She knew something was up. The timing didn’t make anything better, Marie was already mad at him that morning. However, she decided not to confront him about it and wait until midnight to take his phone to see things herself.
She saw what she couldn’t believe herself. She wanted to cry, to scream at the top of her lungs at her husband who she had trusted so much in so many years. She tried to fall asleep to forget about it but laid awake until almost sunrise wandering in her thoughts. All of this happened while Alan was dead asleep unaware of what Marie had discovered.
When the kids woke up, they saw Marie was playing with the virtual reality gaming system. Maybe she needed to find a distraction. She was really into the game. Kaylie couldn’t get Marie’s attention when she needed help for her homework. Marie was playing a fighting game, which was designed by the Company and came exclusively with the Glasser System. She was trying to release her anger by punching virtual characters.
Marie lost all track of time. Took her hours to reach the final round of the game. The last challenge: she had to fight her kids, well, in the game... at least that’s what she believed. She hesitated but kept going. “This is only a game,” she thought, “it would be a waste of time if I give up now.” Marie started taking swings, back and forth.
“AAAAH! MOM! STOP!” Kaylie screamed at the top of her voice.
“DAAAD! HELP US! MOM’S OUTTA HER MIND!” Tim tried to call to Alan for help.
This all seemed too real but Marie kept on fighting the kids. “It’s just a game let’s finish this”. This thought was looping in her head. When Alan arrived, Marie was punching the kids with no sign of stopping. She wasn’t wearing any virtual reality headset. Alan pushed her off and pull the kids behind him. “Wow! Perfect! Alan’s in the game too. Revenge?” She jumped at him and then hit even harder. Any words or warnings Alan said were ignored. Who would reply to characters in games anyway?
The situation only de-escalated when Alan managed to tie her to their bed. She was, then, totally out of her mind. The kids were extremely frightened. It’s not common that a mother would try to beat her kids to death. Alan decided to lock Kaylie and Tim in their room while he dealt with her. He attempted to feed her but she wouldn’t eat.
The following day, Alan acted as nothing had happened. The kids, however, were worried and sneaked in their parents’ room to see Marie with their own eyes. She was in terrible conditions, dehydrated and starving. They tried to call for a doctor but all the calls were blocked. After several failed attempts, they decided to try to ask a neighbor for help but the doors were locked before they could do anything.
Alan did everything to keep his kids from telling anyone using the security system. His reputation was too important for this situation to be known outside the apartment. This business he built took him years of failing and trying so he would do anything in order to keep it from falling apart.
Kaylie and Tim discussed all the ways that they could try and help their mother. They ended up scrapping every idea and kept trying to think of new ways. They didn’t give up and fell asleep late at night.
Alan woke up the next morning and couldn’t find Marie tied to the bed anymore. There was no sign of her. He panicked. What could have happened? He went to check on the kids. Nowhere either. Nothing showed up in the camera feed and all the footage last night was somehow deleted. He had no idea where anyone was or what was going to come next.
Over 2,000 miles away, in the Silicon Valley, “all is going according to plan.” All this time, the Company had control over the Glasser System but the Russells had no idea. There was no “young woman” texting with Alan. There was no fighting game, only a manipulative software designed to control people. The interactive vest of the gaming system was only there to induce physical hallucinations to drive Marie crazy. Anything in and out of the apartment on top of New York was controlled by the Company. Every movement and sound inside the apartment was monitored and recorded through hidden cameras and 3D scanners hidden inside the electronics.
The Russell family was only the beginning.