Chapter 1:

Daisies

This Metallic Heart Of Mine


    “As I lay in bed, I let out a long sigh that reflects very well my desire to go to sleep and wake up another day in a world where living does not bring me any happiness. A world where there are no challenges or difficulties that make us evolve and feel needed. Technology has conquered everything. There is no poverty, global warming, war, you can name the rest. For many, it would be the perfect world but for me it is nothing more than a prison. You may consider me ungrateful for the advance of technology... At some point you wouldn't be wrong but I also recognize that it has brought many good things. The health sector has improved greatly as a relatively healthy human being can live up to 140 years, education has evolved exponentially although it is of no great use in a world where robots do everything for us and the world of entertainment has expanded greatly with the help of AI. In return, humanity seems emptier than certain robots. There is no connection between human beings as technology itself can now be used to create artificial humans without the need for sexual relationships, and even without the existence of a father and a mother. To add to my case, I am one of these humans. I have never had a real connection with anyone. At this point, I doubt I even have this so-called heart that I have always heard and read about in books. I bet mine is an empty engine that does not receive fuel to make it move. I don't even know what fuel would be needed... But well, enough thinking about it! Tomorrow I have another incredible day to exist in a fantastic utopia where I have no purpose... Yeyyyyy.”

    And so Matsuo fell asleep.

    8 hours later, you could hear background noise, the most horrible alarm clock that exists! It sounded as if someone had put a person scraping a fork on another metallic surface. The sound was super sharp and did its job efficiently. Matsuo had woken up with the greatest desire to destroy that alarm clock. Not being able to have the sound he wanted as an alarm clock only contributed to him waking up irritated and unwilling to live every day.

    "One of the wonders of technology... Optimizing everything and not being able to personalize anything we want!" - said Matsuo, upset as he went downstairs to have breakfast.

    In the kitchen, you could find a domestic robot already preparing breakfast. This robot looked very similar to a human. It had long black hair, brown eyes, and spoke with a thin voice but with all the respect to the human it served.

    "Mr. Matsuo. I have prepared the pancakes that you like and I have already added 132 ml of honey to them. In each pancake, obviously." - said the robot looking for approval from its master.

    "Himiko, I've already told you that you can call me Matsuo... I'm 23 years old, not 89..." - he said, letting out a small sigh of someone who had this conversation every day and was already fed up.

    "Mr. Matsuo. I am programmed to always address you this way and fulfill all your needs."

    Upon hearing Himiko's response, Matsuo thought: "So if you are programmed to fulfill my needs, I need you to call me Matsuo...". Some time later, Matsuo finished his breakfast and left home in search of some way to spend his day.

    "Let's see how I will occupy my time today..." - said Matsuo, not at all excited about the day ahead of him.

    As he walked aimlessly, Matsuo saw an advertisement in a video game store. "Want to venture into the world you've always wanted? Is reality too perfect and no longer fulfilling? Don't miss the launch of the new universe of virtual worlds, Aetherverse. A universe where changing your life is an option." Matsuo looked disinterestedly, thinking about how convenient this solution was to escape reality, and continued walking.

    At the end of the day, on his way back home, Matsuo passed by the same video game store and saw the same advertisement, but this time with a slight difference: "Want to venture into the world you've always wanted? Is reality too perfect and no longer fulfilling? Don't miss the launch of the new universe of virtual worlds, Aetherverse. A universe where changing your life is an option! Don't come here a third time with that dead dog look! Come live life, even if it's not reality, it can give you the purpose you need." Matsuo wondered what was going on, it almost seemed like the person in the advertisement knew he had passed by earlier that day, and if so, artificial intelligence was becoming increasingly advanced.

    "He looks like someone who's thinking why do I feel like this beautiful guy on TV is talking directly to me. And he wouldn't be wrong! Start living!" Matsuo, as soon as he finished hearing the advertisement, thought that he really isn't doing anything better with his life, so he decided to enter the store and buy a VR kit to enter this new universe of virtual worlds. VR kits have evolved to the point where they are able to sustain the user's life through a giant capsule where the user would be in a coma while in the virtual world.

    Just arrived home, Matsuo begins to make space for when his VR kit would arrive. The delivery was fast because all houses contained a matter teleportation system and the installation was very simple thanks to the building editing system. This system allowed the user to change the house as they pleased, inside and out with the help of nanotechnology.

    With his new occupation installed, Matsuo called Himiko and told her that he would be away for a while and entered the capsule. As soon as he closed his eyes, Matsuo appeared in a blank space where he could choose the type of world he wanted to experience. Unlike the modern times full of technology where he lived. Matsuo decided to opt for a more medieval world without technology, where there were difficulties and where he could feel a little more alive.

    Having chosen his world, Matsuo woke up in a long field of daisies where he could feel and hear the wind hitting his skin. He took advantage, lay down and just listened to the trees making noise because of the wind and the birds singing. And when he least expected it, he was approached by a girl who was 1.60m tall, with pink hair, green eyes with a mark under her right eye, and dressed in clothes as if she were picking flowers.

    "I'm sorry, but you can't be here... We are currently working on harvesting these daisies... Could you please move away a bit?" - she said, noticing Matsuo's confusion. "I understand that you are lost. I assume you must be new here and don't know anything about this world. I finish work at 5 pm, can I talk to you about this world while we eat something? Does that sound good to you?". Matsuo was shocked because he had never spoken to another human in his 23 years of life. Even in school and other stores, only interaction with robots was necessary.

    "Ye-ye-yes! Of course... I-I will wait here... Yes, I will wait here!" - said Matsuo, confused by his first interaction with another human being.

    Daisies mean new beginnings, will this be the new beginning for Matsuo?

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