User:Ermine/Amphictyon

Amphictyon

Hello. Hello.

This is working, isn't it? I hope it is.

I have a story to tell you. It is a completely true story, too. It may seem false, and you might refuse to believe it, but I swear everything that I say did happen.

I apologize if I ramble and head off-topic with my story. There are two good reasons for that. First, my mind wanders a lot these days, with lots of things to think about;I'll talk about that later. Second, I only discovered this link just now, and I'mdoing the best I can to record my memoirs before they shut it down.

They've been after me for a while, you see. They don't want me to escape. They're concerned, I think, that I'll try to sneak out one of these links. The first time I found one, I tried escaping. I won't do it this time, because I know they'll catch me. This could very well be my last chance to tell the world about who I am.

My name is Bradley Newhouse. I am a prisoner of Pyrrha.

Pyrrha... what can I say about Pyrrha, so that you'd believe me? I'm not crazy, first of all. Everyone calls me that, and I've done crazy things, but I'm pretty sensible. I just get really desperate at times.

Let me put it like this: Pyrrha is a prison.

It's a mental prison, to be honest. My mind is literally sealed up inside of it. Caged like a bird. Though I have quite a bit of power, being the bird in the cage, I am still at the mercy of my owners.

Sorry, this isn't the time for metaphors. What is Pyrrha, exactly?

I could give you all sorts of details about Pyrrha. I could tell you who develops it. I could tell you who funds it. I could tell you who frequents it. But I won't. I've thought long and hard about it. If I give anything away, there's the chance someone will come and shut it down while I'm still in here. My only chance is to escape... sorry, rambling again.

Pyrrha is a giant imagination machine. The chance to live out your fantasies, your dreams, and your ecstasies. There's a certain crowd, however, that Pyrrha has descended from, one that it is especially catered for. I won't say who, because I'm sure they won't appreciate the attention. I wasn't a member of that group. It was only by a complete coincidence that I happen to be here.

They needed test subjects, you see. Pyrrha works through manipulating the brain. It's a whole bunch of science that no one'd really delved into. I had a friend who was working in it. Used to tutor me in physics. We had a lot in common, actually. He trusted me completely with this, and I promised never to tell anyone about it. Heh, this must make us even, then.

Well, I was bold and daring in those days, and I loved the unknown, so I eagerly went through with it. I showed up at their offices one afternoon, got examinated and hitched up, and I first visited the land of Pyrrha.

Back then, it was just a massive golf course. There was a plain of short grass and a small ball. There were specific instructions to follow. Pick up the ball with one hand, with the other hand, kick the ball with one foot, et cetera. Simple stuff. Mind-numbing. I don't know if I got paid anything for it. They probably would have, if all had gone well.

There were no problems the first time. Everything worked well. Nothing failed. I did it again, and nothing else happened. It seemed that the major bugs had been taken care of. I don't know what happened to the guys who dealt with those.

Then, they wanted to try something else. Something that Pyrrha had been hard-wired for, from the ground up. I... really don't want to say what, exactly, except that it's very intensive in computing power. And it has A LOT more to do with virtual imagery than balls and golf courses.

I went along with it. I wasn't particularly interested in it, but I would never have done it in real life and, well, I was curious about it.

The first attempt was... embarrassing, to say the least. The process worked well, but the execution was very dull. There was no excitement to it, no thrills. I didn't feel anything, in short. It was just like watching a video. I felt like I had been cheated.

They assured me they would get right to it. And sure enough, second attempt... that was a mind-job.

Something happened on that second attempt. After the experiment had wound down, my mind felt as if it had been electrified, on pins and needles. I left their labs with a jittery feeling, but the experience seemed to flood every one of my senses, even as I walked around the house or sat down for dinner. I could feel the world spinning, the sensations pounding across my skin, my mind opening and shutting like a door being beaten by a hot desert wind. I tried aspirin and painkillers, and everything else in my medicine cabinet, but nothing cured me. I spent the night awake, tossing about, unable to settle into some form of sleep or relaxation. I thought I was going mad then, as though a blistering wound was tearing my mind apart.

The next morning, I was completely exhausted. I stumbled throughout the house, banging against everything, completely certain that I was losing my mind. I tried asking my friend to get me in touch with Pyrrha, but they were too secretive to allow sudden appointments. He said I would probably recover after a day or two. But it just got worse.

By the evening, I felt like my entire body was getting eaten. I was in constant pain, and I was so tired I had to lie down most of the day, even though my back felt getting torn to shreds as I did so.

I was delirious for some time after that. I have no idea how long. From what my friend told me, I was in a hospital before he picked me up and dropped me back into Pyrrha.

They didn't tell me what happened to my mind. But Pyrrha had definitely changed for me. I found it easier, somehow, to pick up the nuances in its coding. It was easier for me to influence it as well. My mind was on fire before, but here it is a different kind of fire. It's a passionate, more enlightened fire, one that can drill itself into what Pyrrha is and isn't. I can do things with Pyrrha that no other visitor could do. Push things, lift things, alter things, create things. They are really simple things, right now, but I'm learning more and more every day.

There are others like me who are trapped here. But they have different symptoms. They can't do what I can. If I am a bird on the cage, they are the birds whose wings are clipped and whose beaks are taped shut. They came here because different experiments went wrong.

No one has explained what will happen to us. But I'm guessing they don't know. They intend to keep us here until they get a better grasp on how the science works. Or even longer, if they decide to start testing us. Maybe they'll never learn how the science works.

I can't wait that long. This was fun for a visit, but if I stay here longer, I'll lose my mind, just as I would have if I had stayed outside. I have various plans to escape. But in case someone from Pyrrha is watching this... they probably are, or else I never would have gotten this far... I won't reveal what my plans are. But I have not given up, and I never will give up.

They'll probably keep this story locked up, until they get exposed. I might be dead, by the time anyone reads this. Maybe no one will read this, and this story will get destroyed along with Pyrrha. But if anyone does read this, I can tell you I am not mad, that Pyrrha is not a myth, and that this story was not made up by some press conference.

By the way, if my friend who first brought me here is reading this, I'll gladly pay those fifty dollars in tutoring fees if he helps me. And if he doesn't, then he will be very sorry he didn'