“Stay safe, but most importantly, keep the world safe. Nothing can go wrong”. The screen fades to black as the room is flooded with light. You don’t move at first, wondering if anyone is going to come for you. But they don’t. Why would they, when they have all that work? The most important work. The velvet seat creaks as you stand up, alone in the movie theatre of an office that, three months ago, you didn’t know existed; though you didn’t know much more now. Only what they wanted you to know. What they wanted you to see. Stepping outside the theatre is being reborn. You are armed with knowledge that could ruin civilisations- ruin life. Ruin reality.
You sit at the desk. You log in to your computer. They are arriving. The real ones. The fake ones. You must sort them. The real ones. The fake ones. Nothing can go wrong.
It’s a man. Or it looks like one. It walks to your desk with a purpose you’ve never seen before. It silently hands you ID. The wrong picture. The wrong name. The wrong body. You dial the number. “Are you for real?” The words fall out of you as if they’d always been there. Waiting for the right moment to say them. Waiting for this moment. The thing is taken away. Everything is as it should be. Nothing has gone wrong.
Workers come and workers go. So do the fakes. They hand you ID’s. They hand you paperwork. Some acknowledge you. Most don’t. And still, those foreign, familiar words cascade from your mouth. “Are you for real?” Are they? Are they for real? That’s the thing. You’ll never know. The only thing you’ve ever known- ever will know- is the question. No answer. That is real. That cannot be faked. That is why you are doing this.
Hours become your first working day. Days become weeks, months. But it does not take long for you to make mistakes. It is not easy anymore. It is not second nature. They call you to an office. Introduce you to someone. You do not know who they are. Only that they will replace you. That you deserve it.
You are a liability. You cannot be allowed to continue. You cannot be allowed to remember either. Back in the movie theatre. You gained the knowledge of the world here. It is only fair that you lose it- and everything else- here. Suddenly, there is nothing. Nothing but those lovely, terrible words. “Are you for real?” Except this time there is an answer. Floating in the void. It is there. The only thing there ever was. The answer. “Too real”.