Rick Ritchie

Year 3075 (a different universe)

CHURA INDUSTRIES Main Office Building

(In a party floor)

A slightly drunk and high middle-aged man can be seen. He looks about 30 years old. But who knows what his age is! After all there are way too many de-aging therapies nowadays. Anyway, he says to his subordinate,

"Congratulations, Mr. Rick, on your remarkable invention," Rick's superior commended, swirling his drink. "This B.A.M.I - Brain Analyzer and Memory Influencer - it's groundbreaking. When can we expect its debut?"

Rick hesitated, his eyes scanning the room, evaluating the risks unspoken. "It's not quite there yet, sir. The foundational software is in place, but it needs further fortification. I need more time."

The superior's expression hardened. "Three months, Rick. That's your deadline."

"But sir, I—" Rick began.

"Three months," the superior reiterated, leaving no room for debate. "You're dismissed."

..........

(In a computer lab in planet XDFS3346 CHURA INDUSTRIES)

"That M*therF*ker! That stupid as* M*ther F*ker! If we release that product, a lot things can go wrong. It may be revolutionary but it's dangerous as f*ck! What do I do. Software isn't my specialty. And the software department here is subpar at best. We are screwed.''

Rick's lab assistant Ayla then came in and said, ''Rick, not all is lost. We still have plan R87"

"Yes, we do, but It's really dangerous. So far, the human trials were simple and basic. Whereas R87 would be risky and complicated. Anything goes wrong, the subject's mind could be fractured and cause many mind-related problems such as amnesia, Alzheimer's disease, memory discrepancies etc. And getting desperate test subjects like that would be troublesome."

Ayla replied, ''You're right. Let's leave it for now.''

..........

(MC POV)

sigh, what do I do? the BAMI chip, can influence memories, affect dreams and perceptions. In the case of other chips in the market this is a level above. Those subpar chips can only receive input from the brain. After that it passes the given command to their phones, computers, holowatches, smart lenses and other devices which give feedback to the user. But the BAMI chip can do all the stuff just by itself. I can send the feedback directly to the user's brain.

Just as it's a revolutionary concept, it's also risky as well. For instance, what if it was hacked? sure people hardly get hacked these days because of sophisticated protection that everyone enjoys. But still, nothing is perfect. For example, those DEATH HACKERS have every corporate business on a leash. If they don't pay, their software becomes disabled. If they get their hands on it, who knows what they would do.

Get now why I'm scared about it? Plan R87 is a plan or rather an idea I've had ever since starting the project. We all know that during sleeping or rather dreaming there is some time dilation.

[Author's Note: I actually experimented on this, sort of. I saw that no matter whether it's one minute or three minutes of sleep (in the morning) it always seems longer while dreaming.]

So, the idea is simple. The subject goes to sleep and then we use the chip to control his dreams. Due to the time dilation (from the perspective of the sleeper), more time would pass in his mind than outside.

So theoretically, the subject can easily learn or experience whatever he wants inside the simulation created by the chip.

But it is tricky. Our dreams are stored in REM memory. We forget about our dreams soon after waking up. So, the chip would have to store those memories and then share it with the user later on. It should work. The hardware is ready.

Well, that's the plan anyways. Who knows how many things will go wrong!

...........

One month after the party

Rick POV

Well things are becoming more interesting by the day. Feels like college projects all over again. The same quick deadline. Except this time, I won't be losing just some grades, I will lose my entire career.

I'm working to the bone. Me and my team are spending every waking hour trying to perfect the OS (operating system) and making it unhackable.

Some parts are being outsourced such as sending out challenges to hackers for specific completed works, dividing the parts of the software being developed and other tasks. Needless to say, it is costing us a buttload of money. This is really inefficient compared to just taking time and doing it slowly. This is also risky, if the various tasks aren't properly coordinated, there is a very high chance of it being worse than before. Sigh, I'm pretty confident that if given enough time I alone can do or perhaps learn and do most of the stuff being outsourced or being done by my colleagues.

All of this is just plain frustrating. I hope we can complete it in the deadline given.

As the project's deadline approached, Rick's anxiety deepened. The pressure weighed on him like a mountain of unmet expectations.

...........

Two weeks later

The asshole came by.

He said that it's taking too much time and money. He reduced the amount of money funneled into us. I almost wanted to kill the fu*ker.

Sigh, what do I do! The task is becoming more and more impossible by the day. I'm beginning to think more and more about plan R87.It's becoming like the whisper of the devil. I just can't get it out of my head. I really hope I won't have to resort to that. Sigh...

..........

One week and three days later-

Alright, this is just plain impossible. We have too little time to do this. Without the software completed, there is no way we can release such a dangerous product.

I've decided to go for it. Hey what can happen? It's not like it can be worse than this.

I told the team to begin the preparations for it. Most of the work for it is done. We just have to add some stuff to compile and complete it.

It should be done in three days.

.........

Four days later

It took more than I expected. But it doesn't matter. I'll have all the time I need very soon.

The software part is complete. Tomorrow, we launch the project. I'm feeling excited. Well, the others aren't too keen about it. Something about 'being too risky to be done by me.' And that 'I am too valuable to risk losing'. NONSENSE! If not me then who? We didn't have time for squabbles so I nipped it in the bud by simply saying that it's an order. After all, they are all under me. Whatever I say goes.

Tomorrow's the big day. I can hardly wait.

...........

Next day

''Ayla, is everything alright?''

She replies, ''Yes, sir. Everything is in working order.''

''Good. I'll be entering the sleeping pod shortly at exactly 11 am. Monitor my vitals and sleeping condition. By the time I wake up I'll be older than your grandfather. You can call be daddy then if you want to.''

''I'll pass sir. I do not have such weird fetish.''

She answered candidly but I could see a tiny smirk in the corner of her lips. But she is nervous. No doubt about it. We all are. I hope everything goes all right. They could really use a win right now. Considering, how much overworked everyone in my team is. Anyways, time to begin. No use in getting cold feet at the last minute.

I enter the sleeping pod. Basically, it is a life preservation machine but many times more sophisticated. It prevents even my muscles from getting even slightly atrophied. It'll just feel like closing my eyes a little bit. My body will have full functionality after waking up. No side effects of having a long coma.

Anyway, a doctor assigned to this project came to me. She was pretty good looking too. So cliché right! I like it. Anyway, she poked some needles into me.

"Sir, you need to put this in your mouth and nose.", She said.

"Okay. "

Afterward, a scientist from behind the glass paned booth said,

''Sir, everything is working perfectly. Are you alright, sir?''

''Yes. Release the sleeping agent.''

''Yes, sir. Releasing the gas now. The chip is working perfectly. Vitals are perfect. Brain waves are stable. Happy dreams sir.''

''Yeah, yeah, see you guys later then.''

And then I just drifted into my sleep. And what a dream it was!

............….

(Inside Rick's dreamscape)

It's been 40 years.

The purpose was simple. Make a proper software during that time that properly uses every aspect of the chip without causing bugs. No one can do this. I've seen so many examples of things going wrong. 

No. Only I am capable of this. I had to do this. 

Everything is complete. Also, I had the best vacation as well. There was plenty of time leftover as well. I had enough time to properly test the code and also made sure there would be no future problems when making updates.

Uncle Bob, even after a millennia your coding principles are being used to make this crazy invention. Sigh. Hopefully the same would happen for me as well.

Alice, wake me up.