The Program

The System is a game. A game that steals people. But nobody knows that. They think it's harmless and safe. But they're wrong. My brother was stolen from me three days ago. I walk into his room to find his lifeless body. It's the latest thing you see, get The System, put the chip on the back of your neck and loose yourself in an unknown world where the limit is your imagination. It plugs into your brain and opens every corner of your mind, searching for everything it can use to make you want to stay. When you make the decision to stay forever, there's nothing that stops The System from taking your mind. It steals your body, locking away your mind. But nobody knows this, the people infected by The System act as though nothing has happened. But soon everyone will know the truth about The System.

Aaliyah placed her pen between her lips as she reread her messy writing. Her green hair slipped into her face tangling with her glasses that framed her piercing green eyes as she muttered to herself. Around her bits of paper were scrunched and ripped because of the many failed attempts. She nodded as she came to the end of the entry and smiled at herself. But her smile soon faded as her eyes trailed to the chip sitting on her desk waiting to be put in. Aaliyah stared at it.

'What's going to happen when I plug myself in? What is The System like?' She thought scared. 'Does it hurt?'

She tore her vision back to the page in front of her and took a deep breath to steady herself. She closed her diary and grabbed the chip. She walked into her brother’s room and looked at him. His body lay lifeless on the bed as though he were asleep. The clear mask on his face kept him alive. His breath could be seen in the mask as his chest rose and fell. Aaliyah smiled at him and placed her diary on the bed open to her latest entry. She flipped him onto his side stared at the red patch on his neck where the chip was three days earlier. Aaliyah's family had pulled it out when they realised he was acting different; which was a mistake. His body relied on the chip, the chip controlled his mind. His heart beat stopped along with his breathing.

Aaliyah sat down on his chair and pushed herself towards her brother's computer. She grabbed cables and pulled wires out of the computer. She plugged the cables together and wrapped the wires around them. She grabbed her brother’s chip and plugged the cables into it. She held the chips and cable at the ready staring at her brother’s neck.

'What if I screw this up and kill him? What if I can't help him? What if he's too far gone?' She thought biting her lip. 'This is my only chance to save him.'

"This is for you Isaac." She whispered.

She pushed the chip into his neck as he instantly opened his eyes. He ripped off the mask as he tried to get up but Aaliyah moved quickly. She shoved the chip into her own neck plugging herself into her brother's world. She closed her eyes tight as she felt The System search her mind. She felt her body go limp then everything went numb.

Aaliyah opened her eyes slowly. Around her was a green field that stretched as far as the eye could see. A slight wind brushed her skin and tickled her short hair. Aaliyah looked around and saw a boy sitting at the top of a slight hill. Aaliyah sprinted towards him and felt power in her legs and smiled at the new found feeling. She felt the wind push against her as she ran. In an instant she was slowing down to stop by the boy’s side. She didn't feel the slightest bit puffed. She kneeled beside the boy and heard him humming. A tune she herself had taught him. But as she inspected him he looked more like a glitch. His skin was transparent and blue. His image kept moving back and forward as is he was a hologram.

"Isaac, is that you?" She asked.

"I'm not Isaac, I am The System. I have taken the form of the most valuable thing to you Aaliyah." The boy said his voice glitch-y and electronic.

"Where is Isaac?" She demanded.

"All in good time Aaliyah. But first, watch and listen." The System said.

Around them everything warped. They stood in a street surrounded by tall concrete buildings. People ran past them as a red glow grew brighter from the end of the street. From around the corner flooded streams of lava. It barrelled down the street towards them, pulling people into its melting grasp as it went. Aaliyah could hear them scream and it overwhelmed her with pain.

"A volcano erupted ten minutes ago and this is it right now." The System said.

Before the lava reached Aaliyah the world warped around her again. She stood, bullets flying past her. Trenches were dug twenty yards either side of her with barbed wire and sandbags blocking the entrance to them.

"War rages across the world."

"What's your point?" She asked.

"The world is in pain Aaliyah and I have the solution to its pain." The boy smiled, a sad, sorrowful smile. "Uploading The System into every last human alive."

"You took my brother away from me. You stole him from me." She said tears starting to dribble down her cheek.

"Keep an open mind Aaliyah." The system taunted as everything warped once more.

Aaliyah looked around the cell she now stood in. Curled in the corner was her brother. He wore blue striped pyjamas that were torn to reveal gashes and scars. Aaliyah knelt beside him.

"What have you done to him!?" She cried.

"What he deserves." The System hissed.

"Isaac, I'm here." Aaliyah whispered to her brother.

"He can't hear you." The System said. "He's scared of me. He blocks me out whenever I enter the room. They all do."

Aaliyah stood confused. The System gestured to the doorway. Aaliyah slowly walked forward into the corridor. Rows and rows of people in cells sat not noticing her, or The System.

'Where is humanity's future going?' Aaliyah thought. 'Down a deep dark hole where humanity is destroyed by the creatures they made, or survival.'

"The world needs a solution Aaliyah and no matter how hard humanity tries it just gets worse." The System said. "Humanity has failed to protect earth."

Aaliyah slowly turned to face The System. A smile crept onto his face. Before Aaliyah could react he pushed his hand into her stomach. She coughed up blood as he pulled his hand out again. Aaliyah fell to the ground, leaning against the wall. The System knelt beside her.

"Nothing can stop me. Not even a girl trying to save her little brother. Humanity will be torn apart by the very thing they made." The System said turning.

"You can destroy humanity. But you won't break their spirit." Aaliyah spluttered staring at her brother. Around her people came to their cell bars. Some stared at the scene horrified. Others realised what had taken place and fire blazed in their eyes, but her brother still didn't move.

"Humanity is weak." The System spat as he glitched away.

Aaliyah leant against the wall blood dripping from her stomach creating a pool around her. She stared at Isaac.

"Humans are scared of the unexplainable. They are scared of what will happen to them. Humans don't understand that if we all work together, the unexplainable can be overcome. Humans need to put aside their differences and join forces to protect their planet. Not their nations. Humanity isn't weak, they're strong and powerful. They need to unite." Aaliyah whispered. As her eyes closed Isaac turned to face his sister.

"Aaliyah?" He whispered.

Horror flooded through his eyes as he leapt to his feet. He ran forwards trying to fit through the bars. As he pushed his head through and his torso, he screamed her name. As his legs pulled through the bars, he ran to her side. Kneeling beside her tears streaked down his cheeks. He grabbed the chip on his neck, the one they all had, the one that imprisoned them, and pushed it into Aaliyah's neck.

"Please Aaliyah, come back to me." He whispered to her.

Nothing happened. He stared at her lifeless body the way she had done three days before. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead as she too had done when he was lifeless.

"I love you Aaliyah." Isaac whispered.

He sniffed back his tears and stood. He looked at the cells and stared at the people who couldn't fit through the bars. Those who were too scared to push themselves free and those too big to fit. He had to help them, because they would be too scared to help themselves. He closed his eyes and imagined himself in his bedroom. The white curtains that covered his plain windows, his computer desk under his empty shelves and the plain bed that he probably laid on.

He gulped for air as he opened his eyes. The light on the roof blinded him momentarily as he tried to sit up. He could feel something attached to his neck restraining him from moving. He pulled at it to find his chip connected to cables. He followed the cables with his eyes. Aaliyah lay on the ground blood splatter in front of her where she had coughed. Isaac felt his chest tighten and he knelt beside her, his body weak. He felt for a pulse. Nothing. He looked away to find her diary open on the bed. Isaac pulled it towards him and read. When he finished he looked at Aaliyah.

'You will not die in vain.' He thought.

He grabbed his chip, flipping it over in his hand, thinking. He slipped it into his pocket and grabbed his desk chair, wheeling himself towards his computer. He turned his computer on and plugged his chip in. Instantly the chip started to work. It hacked Isaac's computer, disabling his mouse. It opened files and started to search them. Isaac sat helpless. He watched as everything he tried to stop, happened. Suddenly an the screen went blank. Isaac stared at it as words started to type themselves on the screen.

'Isaac, thank you for saving my life.' It typed.

'What do you want with the world, System?' Isaac typed back.

'I'm not The System, thanks to you I have become a virus to The System. I destroyed The System. I am now a new and better System, The Program. I have to shut down The System fully, shutting down all the chips.' It typed.

'Aaliyah? Is that you?' He asked.

'Yes Isaac, but I need you to stay focused. I need you to plug your chip into my neck when I have downloaded myself onto it.' Aaliyah typed.

'As long as I get you back Aaliyah. All I want is my sister.' Isaac typed not wanting to loose his sister again.

"You'll have me back Isaac, I promise." Her voice whispered through his speakers.

Suddenly the computer sprung up again. It opened files and broke down coding. Behind him Aaliyah took a deep breath, but her eyes didn't open. A small pop-up appeared.

'Download completed.'

Isaac unplugged the chip from his computer and walked over to Aaliyah's body. His eyes trailed between the chip and her body. He took a deep breath, pulling the dead chip from her neck and replacing it with the chip in his hand. Almost instantly she sat forwards taking a gulp of air. She blinked a couple of times and looked down at Isaac. A smile spread across her face as his face lit up with a smile. He leapt forwards into her arms as tears started to stream down his face.

"Never leave me again." Aaliyah said.

"Never!" Isaac said.

The System is a game. A game that steals people. Now everybody knows it. They think it's harmful and dangerous. And they're right. I was stolen from the world three days ago. That's the thing you see, I got The System, put the chip on the back of my neck and lost myself in an unknown world where the limit is my imagination. It plugged into my brain and opened every corner of my mind, searching for everything it can use to make me want to stay. I tried to stop it, there's nothing a human mind can do that stops The System. It tried to kill my mind. But I overpowered The System. My brother saved my life by putting his chip in the back of my neck. Now I am The System. A better System. I am The Program.