An Unexpected Update
A shrill beeping filled the room as Derek’s alarm went off. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he would sit up and look around his rather bland room. Pale-ish walls, a desk, dresser, and a side table that held a pair of glasses that were beeping. Derek picked them up to put on, his room shifting into that of a snow topped peak. The walls now vanished into a snowy morning with the only things left in his room being the same objects he had as well as the door. The peak of the mountain was the perfect size of his room, making sure that he wouldn’t accidentally bump into a wall as where they were located was a steep drop off. Derek got himself out of bed, getting himself ready for the morning before the glasses beeped at him again. In front of him was a transparent screen that followed where his eyes looked. It asked him if he would like to apply the update that downloaded last night. Reaching up his hand, Derek selected yes.
The world around him went dark for a few moments before revealing itself again. Except this time he no longer stood upon a snowy peak, instead he was in his normal bland room once more. With a frown he tried to reach his hands up, seeing if he could restart the system to no avail. He took off the glasses and sighed, knowing he would need to get them repaired. Everyone had a pair of glasses like these. They transported them into the virtual world where everyone did their work, watched entertainment, or played games. It was their way of life and had become the norm. These glasses hardly ever went down and if they did, there would still be at least some form of connection to guide them to the nearest repair or replacement shop. The glasses charged wirelessly, meaning they were always full since induction charging kept them at full. But since these were broken, Derek would need to see the world for what it really was.
Derek explored his apartment with new eyes. He had never seen it so bland. There were pieces of furniture completely missing since they only existed in his virtual space. Rooms seemed a lot smaller and more cramped without the modifications the glasses provided to the space. Even his shower felt somewhat pathetic, having grown used to the effect of showering under a waterfall rather than his dingy little one. He needed to get some sort of directions if he wanted to go anywhere since the world around him was different from what he was used to. He fiddled through some drawers and eventually found a smart phone. A relic by today’s standards. Luckily it still had some power he could turn on and use to tell him where to go. Firstly, he would need some breakfast.
Checking his phone and following the on screen directions, Derek made his way to the closest bakery. There were still some things that had physical locations but as Derek looked around he would begin to notice a trend. It seemed that everything around him, while still having some physical thing, was enhanced by the virtual world in some way. The roads didn’t have any indicators or signs on them. Any billboards were completely blank, only being able to change in the virtual world. But to his surprise the only things that were still real were the trees and the flowers planted around the city. These natural plants had not changed, Derek even recognizing a few of them as he would pass them every day. As he walked he would find himself being able to determine where he was due to these trees, finding himself in front of the coffee shop.
Derek stepped inside, waiting to hear the familiar ring of the bell but nothing sounded off. Another thing that was virtual and never actually in place. Before him was a line of people, all waiting to get their morning coffee. Their hands were in the air, doing some sort of task while they waited in line. Some typing out emails, others watching videos, even a few playing games. It all looked so strange to Derek now, even though he knew yesterday he was doing the same thing when he was watching a video about how coffee was made. He got into line and took another look around the coffee shop. It was empty, but when he saw two customers starting to walk to the corner of the shop chairs and tables quickly sped out from the side of the room. They were on little motorized wheels, allowing them to move on a moments notice in order to reconfigure the store for guests that might need more than one table. It was rather an ingenious method that he never noticed before. Anytime he walked in there were tables and chairs everywhere, but they must have only been real in his virtual world.
As he got to the front counter he looked up at the boards that would normally have whatever was on the menu. But like the billboards outside hosting ads, these were also blank. It was a good thing he got the same thing he always did. Although, he would also need to pay with another old but still functional technology, the credit card. Getting his coffee and bagel, Derek made his way out of the store and back onto the street, checking the old smartphone for the directions. The trees would not be able to help him this time. He made his journey to the repair store, heading inside. This store looked almost exactly like the coffee shop with it’s very open lay out that would only change when needed. There were no products on the shelves, they were all digital. Normally you would be able to “pick” one up to take to the front counter where they would be able to scan it and have the real thing be brought in from the back room or shipped directly back to your house. This all fascinated Derek. He had no idea this was how it worked normally when his glasses were on.
Walking up to the counter, Derek explained his situation to the clerk who nodded apologetically and provided him with a replacement while his old ones would be repaired. The repair costs for the glasses were always free as it was more important to get people into the virtual world so they could spend money rather than staying outside of it. Taking his new pair, Derek went back out from store with them in hand. Standing outside he powered them on and set them onto his face. A quick iris scan would log him into his account, all of his preferences and history coming online. He would see a few messages that he received that morning but before he opened them he decided to take his glasses off once more. The world around him seemed more peaceful without them on, less advertisements and less things constantly needing his attention. Derek decided that he would take the walk home today, using the trees as his guide.
