Lena had never seen the world, not in the way others described it. She was born blind, her world consisting of voices, textures, and scents. But when she entered Eden, the revolutionary virtual reality platform, she could see.
It was a miracle.
Within Eden, Lena could witness the golden hues of the setting sun, the intricate details of flower petals, the shimmering expanse of an ocean stretching beyond the horizon. She lived a second life there, moving through it with ease, unburdened by her real-world disability. She became an artist, painting stunning landscapes from her dreams, expressing her newfound vision in breathtaking colors.
Her best friend in Eden, a programmer named Theo, often told her she had an exceptional eye for beauty.
"If only you could see this world the way I do," Lena would say with a soft laugh.
"I think I see it just fine through your paintings," Theo would reply.
But something had been changing. There were... glitches. Faint distortions at the edges of her vision. Flickers of black where light should be. A strange whispering, just beneath her hearing. It unnerved her, but she dismissed it as software updates or temporary bugs.
Then, one day, Eden shattered.
A piercing noise ripped through her world. Everything dissolved into a cacophony of colors and sound. Her vision twisted, her body felt weightless—then suddenly, she was falling.
And then, darkness.
Lena gasped, her throat burning. Her body was numb, yet unbearably heavy. A cold surface pressed against her skin.
She tried to open her eyes, but the darkness remained.
Panic swelled in her chest.
“Lena?”
The voice was unfamiliar. Mechanical, yet oddly human.
She struggled to move, to speak, but her body felt foreign, disconnected.
“She’s waking up. Increase neural stimulation.”
A sharp pulse ran through her head. With a gasp, she sat upright—her body moving before she even processed the action.
Light.
Not the vibrant, warm glow of Eden’s sunsets. Not the gentle morning light streaming through painted windows. This was harsh, sterile. A cold, dimly lit room stretched around her, filled with machinery she didn’t recognize. Cables hung from the ceiling. Screens blinked with unreadable data.
A figure stood before her.
A man, dressed in a worn-out lab coat, dark eyes heavy with exhaustion. His face was lined, his beard unkempt.
“Lena,” he said carefully. “Can you understand me?”
She tried to speak, but her throat felt raw.
Her mind raced. Where was she? Where was Eden?
She gripped the sides of what felt like a metallic table, her fingers trembling.
“I—” Her voice cracked.
“You’ve been inside the system for a long time,” the man said, stepping closer. “Longer than anyone else. We didn’t know if you’d ever wake up.”
Wake up?
Lena’s breath quickened.
“This is wrong,” she whispered. “I—I can’t be here. I need to go back.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to return to Eden. To the world where she was whole. Where she could see.
The world remained cold, static, unyielding.
Her heart pounded. “Where is Eden?”
The man sighed. “Eden isn’t real, Lena. It never was.”
“No.” She shook her head violently. “That’s not true. I was just there. I was painting. Theo—Theo was with me. I—”
She froze.
Theo.
Something about him. His voice, his presence. Why couldn’t she remember his face? Why did his features blur when she tried to recall them?
A sickening realization crept over her.
“How long?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
The man hesitated. “You were put into the program as a child. Twenty years ago.”
The words hit her like a physical blow.
No.
Twenty years?
She couldn’t breathe. Her hands clawed at the edge of the table.
No.
That wasn’t possible.
She had memories. A life. Sunrises and moonlight. The wind in her hair, the smell of fresh paint, the sound of laughter.
She could see.
Her entire world had been a lie.
Her stomach twisted. “Why?” she choked out.
The man’s expression darkened. “The world… the real world, is not what it once was. The Eden Project was designed to give people an escape. A perfect world for those who could no longer survive in this one.”
Lena’s hands curled into fists. “You stole my life.”
“We saved it,” he said, his voice pained. “You were born blind, yes—but you were also born into a dying world. Resources were scarce. Your parents—” He hesitated. “They were given a choice. Let you live in a crumbling reality, or let you thrive in a perfect one.”
She stared at him, her chest heaving.
“This… this isn’t thriving.”
The man sighed. “No, it isn’t. Not anymore. The system is failing. The servers powering Eden are collapsing. We had to wake you up before it was too late.”
A cold silence stretched between them.
She swallowed hard. “What happens to the others?”
His gaze fell. “Many won’t survive the transition.”
Lena clenched her jaw.
Theo.
Was he even real? Had he ever been?
Or was he just a program? A figment designed to keep her happy, to keep her from questioning.
Tears burned in her eyes.
She had fought to stay in Eden, thinking it was a miracle. Thinking she had been given something special. But it had only been a beautifully crafted prison.
A deception.
A sob threatened to escape her throat, but she swallowed it down.
“What now?” she asked.
The man hesitated. “That depends.”
She turned to him, her hands trembling.
“You can stay here,” he said. “Learn to live in this world. Help us rebuild it.” He exhaled. “Or… we can put you back under. But not into Eden. That world is dying. It won’t last much longer.”
Lena’s body felt weightless.
For so long, she had feared darkness. The blindness she had once known.
But now she realized… it had never been true darkness.
This was.
This cold, barren reality.
And yet…
Something within her refused to give up.
She had lived a lie, but now she was awake. Truly awake.
She turned to the man, her fingers tightening against the metal table.
“I want to see,” she whispered. “For real this time.”
A small, sad smile crossed his face.
“Then we begin.”