Chapter 34: The End

Chapter 34: The End

Disclaimer: I do not advise reading this ending if you are sensitive to any of the topics previously mentioned in Modification Illusion, or mental illness.

Sarah jolted awake. "Sarah? Sarah….." A voice asked. She looked at her surroundings, she was in a white and light blue sterile room. Sarah was lying on a table that reminded her of her first CAT scan all of those years ago. She scooted out of the capsule half, and sat on the open end. She looked up and saw a face that she had never wanted to see, ever again. "Cassandra? What the hell are you doing here?" Sarah asked furiously. "Ummmm.....I work here?" She responded, an awkward confusion sprawled across her face. "Where...where are we?" Sarah asked, in a small daze. "We're in the Herestrian special headquarters. You know, where we do simulations and whatnot." Cassandra told her. "Simulations? Where's Apollo? And Isi? And Blake? Mindy? Allia? Where are they?" Sarah asked in fear. "Are they okay? Why aren't they here too? He said he would stay with me." Tears were starting to form in Sarah's eyes. "I'm not sure who you're talking about Sarah, I've never heard of any of those people. Well, there is an Izzy in human resources, but I doubt you'd know here. I am going to have to ask you to be on your way to your appointment upstairs though, the limited amount of time for stimulation has been reached, and we have more appointments." Cassandra said. "What are you talking about?" Sarah stood up, and lost her balance for a moment. She straightened up and asked Cassandra again, "what are you talking about? And where am I right now?" "For one, you came for your appointment. Whatever dream experience you've had in the last four hours was completely fake, it was simply just a dream. It does pick at my curiosity though, how a person's experience in these fantasies stems from their own weaknesses and desires. Whatever your dream was about, was full of what you wished your life was like, what people you wish you had, the closure you wish you had. Of course there are aspects that stem from your real life, as to be expected. There is a permanent, shall we call it a chip? Anyways, it's permanently in your brain, so that you can come back whenever you want to do this again. Oh, and we're in one of the machine rooms, we have so few with the plummet in the economy after the Monarchy invaded the south of our nation." Cassandra finished.

Sarah stumbled backwards, falling onto her back. "So...it was all fake? Just some illusion? All of it? My entire life?" Cassandra lowered her arm in an attempt to get Sarah back standing, but she swatted her arm away. She cried, "Apollo, Blake, Isi, Mindy, Allia? None of you were real? Then....why...how am I supposed to live without you? I can't do this! I can't do any of this on my own! It's not fair!" Sarah's throat was beginning to feel stuffy, uncontrollable tears rushing down her face. "Do you.....why?" Sarah heard Cassandra call security. "Wait, he can't be completely gone! I still remember.....his embrace. I remember him, I normally can't remember my dreams at all." Two people dressed in black came into the room, she couldn't tell their genders though. Each grabbed one of Sarah's arns. "I'll do it, then I can forever be with them in my dreams." Sarah bit one of the people holding her, and took over half of her strength to punch the other in the gut. One tried to grab her, but she jumped out of the way and sprinted out of the room as fast as she could.

She kept whispering to herself, "I can be with them forever, over and over again. Sarah rushed up the stairs, she heard the guards following her. She opened the heavy door to the roof, the wind blew her hair up, it gave her chills. For a moment Sarah tried to rethink her decision, she had chills! That meant she was still mostly human! Maybe some cyborg parts, but still human! She didn't have time to talk herself out of it, the guards were right on her trail. She was lucky that she hadn't been caught yet, but she was much, much smaller than the guards following her. That gave her the advantage of speed. She had made it to the roof, she walked towards the front of the building, away from the barbed wire fenced. One foot on the ledge of the roof, the other making its way. "Please don't! You don't have to do this! Just go home!" She heard a guard yell. Perhaps they were right, whoever they were. Was life really worth ending over a boy and a friend? Perhaps not, but that wasn't just some neighborhood group, he was her soulmate and those were her friends. He was there when she needed him the most, he knew her better than anyone else in the small amount of time they knew each other, or...….dreamed of each other. She felt dizzy for a moment, and got a small pounding feeling in the back of her head. But stepping away wasn't an option, she was already there, and so she went. She whispered shortly, she didn't look back, she went with the wind. Sarah was finally free.

In Apollo's dream:

Sarah had gone to ashes, like a video game. There was no body, and it wasn't like she was burned alive. She could have just been turned to ash to go wherever the universe wanted her to go, he reasoned with himself. He was starting to feel psychotic, but that reasoning meant she was alive somewhere, and that thought gave Apollo the hope he needed to keep moving forward, and the wish that someday he would see her again.

Her Logic:

Sarah's life in both simulation and hallucination, was everything she wished she had. She wished she had people like Apollo supporting her. She wished she had an aunt who cared enough to hurt her and be concerned afterwards. She wished for there to be a cure to seek out for what made her hate herself. She hated her being, and she wished that she didn't. Sarah couldn't go back to the real world, not after what she had seen there. What she saw...….was unthinkable. Isn't that what dreams are for? Her last wish, was that when she fell down from her fly, she could go back to her dream...and maybe, just maybe, start to feel like herself again.

See You Soon:

Readers, thank you for sticking with the book throughout it's plot line, messy as it was. There may be some Modification Illusion sidelines, short stories, and more. But, I doubt that there will end up being a full volume two. I suggest trying out one of the other featured book series on this account, and be on the lookout for the newest novel. Veda, a young woman learns to look out beyond what you know, explore what you can, you never know what can be found in the unknown. She is plagued by dreams of an old soul, and has to figure out how to escape. Her life changes pace quickly, and every day is a new adventure. Please let me know of any ideas you have by commenting on this book!

Once again thank you for reading, and I'll see you soon.