Rules

Blink.

Blink, blink.

My eyes tried to adjust to the light in front of me.

“What is this?” I looked around trying to get a sense of where I was. It seemed to be a room with no walls. Neverending circuits ran along the floor, lighter than the darkness around me. There was a continuous ambient humming that made me feel like I was in space. I looked down and noticed that the hair that rested on my shoulder had some sort of sparkle to it. “Is this a dream?”

Back in front of me, the glowing light was a huge text box with a greeting.

Safiya,

Welcome to Life: Epic, Abstract, and Precious!

“L.E.A.P? My game? The one I just finished?”

I stared at it. The text box was pulsing. Was I supposed to do something? I slowly stretched my hand out and touched it. This transparent screen that I thought my hand would pass through actually felt very solid. There was a steady tremble beneath my fingers. It felt like a PC tower. I swiped my hand to the left. The old screen faded and another appeared with new words. “How would I have known to do that?” I rolled my eyes and continued to read.

This is a journey of life. There are many ways of explaining life. Your consciousness has been transported to this digital world where you will use your character to figure out life’s meaning and the important things you need.

Great. Philosophy. Your mind could never be too stimulated. I swiped again.

In addition to figuring out your own thoughts about life, there are things you must obtain in order to return to your body.

Return to my body? What type of dream was this?

You must obtain $5 million and achieve a fulfilling life in order to return to your body.

I laughed. Five million? Where was the challenge? I had just made Mini Saf double that amount. Once I woke up I would probably hoard some more money. That’s all I needed in life.

Life is unpredictable and therefore has no rules, but this one has controls.

You will be able to access your profile by tapping your two middle fingers to the cuff on your ear. If you’d like to reference them, this is where Life’s Objectives would be. Here you will also be able to see other players online, with whom you can become friends by shaking their hand. The cuff is not removable.

I suddenly noticed the cold metal on the edge of my right ear. “When did that get there?” I did as the text said and I touched the cuff.

Nothing.

You will be able to access the main menu by tapping your two middle fingers to the center of your chest. If you are in need of it, you can access help from this menu.

I tapped the center of my chest. Once. Twice.

Still nothing.

You can’t be serious. Broken controls in my own dream? The swipe function works well enough.

Once you have completed the objectives, tap your two middle fingers to the center of your chest twice as a shortcut to return to your world.

Now, to determine how your life begins you must roll the dice.

A heaviness settled in my left fist and I opened it. How had this pair of larger-than-average three-sided dice suddenly appeared in my hand?

There are five outcomes. Double ones is the most unfortunate outcome. There are three different mixed couples: one and two, one and three, and three and two. The individual average of these rolls goes in that order. Since the average of a three and one roll is two, it is the same as double twos. Finally, double threes, the best outcome.

Please roll the dice.

A pair of dice? This wasn’t how I started the game the first time. I guess it didn’t matter since all players started with nothing. I moved both my hands closer to my chest as I cupped the dice. I shook them as hard as I could hoping for good numbers. What? This was a dream but I still wanted a decent life.

I released my hands and the dice rolled and tumbled on the ground before they finally settled.

One and two.

What’s that, an average of one and a half? Why couldn’t I have nice things? I dejectedly swiped the screen one last time. The screen changed and the pulsing stopped.

Your life is up to you but remember that everything requires balance.

In the end, you will have a better understanding of Life.

As the screen dissolved, the darkness swallowed me further and my eyes reluctantly closed.